Battling Tusker suffer home defeat to Singida Black Stars

By  Victor Otieno

Reporter

NMG Sport

What you need to know:

• Jeancy Mboma's 52nd minute strike made the difference in the high stake match.
• The aggregate winner of the fixture will clinch a berth to the competition’s group stage. 

Tusker’s quest to progress to the prestigious group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup is in jeopardy after they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Tanzania’s Singida Black Stars on Sunday.

The encounter held at Nyayo National Stadium was the first leg of the second preliminary round of the competition pitting the two teams.

Substitute forward Jeancy Mboma's 52nd minute strike made the difference in the high stake match, giving Singida advantage heading into the return leg scheduled for Sunday at Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

The aggregate winner of the fixture will clinch a berth to the competition’s group stage. 

Reaching the group stage of the CAF competitions is prestigious since beside teams claiming the bragging rights and giving players valuable exposure and experience, it also comes with significant financial rewards.

For winning last season’s Confederation Cup title, Algeria's USM Alger pocketed $ 2 million (Sh258.9 million) in prize money while Zamalek received $1million (Sh129.48 million) for merging second. 

The teams which advanced from the groups were guaranteed a minimum of $550,000 (Sh71.21 million) each while the clubs that finished third and fourth in their pools received $400,000 (Sh51.79 million).

Teams eliminated in the preliminary rounds pocketed Sh100,000 (Sh12.9 million). In Sunday's contest, which was attended by a sizable crowd, Tusker were left to rue missed chances especially in the first half where they were the dominant side. 

The 12-time Kenyan champions controlled the entire first period and came close to breaking the deadlock on several occasions. Singida failed to register a single shot on target in the first half. 

The opening 10 minutes saw Singida goalkeeper Yona Amos called to action twice. Tusker's speedy winger Ian Simiyu had an opportunity to find the breakthrough in the 13th minute after collecting a pass at the edge of the box but his effort was too weak to trouble Amos. 

Seven minutes after the restart, Mboma fired the visitors ahead with a brilliant shot from inside the box.

The visitors would have doubled their lead on 63 minutes but Henry David failed to beat Tusker’s goalkeeper Perrauld Ndinga in a one-on-one situation. The hosts piled pressure for an equaliser, but were unsuccessful.

The defeat compounds Tusker’s poor record against Tanzanian opponents. Since the rebranding of CAF tournaments in 1997, Sunday's match was the first-ever meeting between Tusker and a Tanzanian opponent at the continental stage.

However, the brewers did meet Zanzibar side Kikosi Maalum cha Kuzuia Magendo (KMKM) in the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League in 2005 winning 7-1. 

It is primarily in the Cecafa competitions that Tusker have squared off against Tanzanian clubs, and more often than not, found themselves on the receiving end of those encounters. 

Records show that in at least 12 matches against Tanzanian sides over the past four decades, the former Kenyan champions have registered three wins, two draws and seven defeats.

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