Second half two goals, by stikerKelechi Osunwa and Ahmed Al Basha enabled Al-Merreikh to clinch all three points from fellow Sudanese side Al-Ahly Shandy on match day 3 of group A in 2012 Orange CAF Confederation Cup.
Visitors Al Ahly Shandy got off a good start and shaded the first half restricting Merreikh to few chances and went into the break on a 0-0 score line. Al-AhlyShandy had two good attempts in the first half in their bid to record a famous win over their more famous opponents , Al-Merreikh. The better of the two came about when Yabuku Razak blasted his effort over the bar with only the veteran Egyptian goalkeeper Esam Al-Hadary in Merreikh's goal to beat.
Merrikh returned from the break a determined side and in the 55 minute Nigerian Kelechi Osunwa scored his second goal in as many matches. Osunwa benefitted from a rebound effort from midfielder Mosab Omar whose shot was parried back into play by Dieayie and Osunwa reacted quickest to score the opening goal. Ahmed Al Basha wrapped up the three points with a late second goal. The striker, who previously played for Omdurman rivals Al Hilal, scored against his old club two weeks ago in a draw between the teams favoured to advance from Group A into the semi-finals. Merreikh have seven points, Hilal four, Ahly three and InterClube of Angola none with the Luanda police team hosting Hilal Saturday in the other match day 3 fixture.
The second-tier Confederation Cup is contested by third place national league finishers, national cup winners and eight clubs demoted from the CAF Champions League after the final qualifying round, including Merreikh and Hilal.
Ricardo Heron- Al-Merreikh coach
It is true that Al-Ahly Shandy dominated the 1st half.In the second half, things change in our favor. In the 2nd half we played better football and scored the first goal that we deserved through Kelechi Osunwa and from there on we regain our team spirit. Faisal Ajab played an influential role in this result. Second goal to made things easier.Ahly Shandy played good football and at this stage no team has qualified to the semi-finals. We have a very difficult game ahead of us in Shandy in two weeks.
Mohamad Al-Kouki- Al-Ahly Shandy coach
It was an excellent game from both teams. We played an open game.We were Able to match Al-Mirreikh and we dominated the 1st half completely and could have scored two goals in that period. We told the players at halftime to continue the same performance and style but Al-Mirreikh played better in the 2nd and scored from their chances. Al-Merreikh captain Faisal Alajab played a crucial role in this result. We will try to win
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