Merreikh, Mathare through to quarters
Group A (Fixtures)
Atraco vs Kartileh -5pm
El Merreikh vs Mathare -7pm

KHARTOUM, SUDAN – Atraco’s chances of making the quarter-finals of the 2009 Kagame Cup are on the edge after Thursday’s 1-2 defeat against Kenya’s Mathare United.

It was Sam Timbe’s second defeat in the competition following Tuesday’s humiliating 1-6 defeat against crowd favourites El Merreikh.

The national league champions now need a big win from their final Group A tie against Djibouti’s Kartileh this afternoon to stand a chance of qualifying as one of two best qualifiers.

On Thursday, Mathare ran rings round a disjointed Atraco side at the El Merreikh stadium before going ahead on the 79th minute through Kevin Oliech.

Mike Ssebalinga equalised for Atraco four minutes later, but the determined Mathare side picked the winner two minutes from stoppage time.

"We tried our best, but we broke down as we looked for a winner. Kabagambe’s saga also seems to be affecting the team negatively,” said a bitter Timbe after the game.
His Mathare counterpart Francis Kimanzi on the other hand praised his team for the win.

"The boys responded well after Atraco’s equaliser,” said Kimanzi. El Merreikh and Mathare, who have won their opening two ties also face-off this afternoon in the top of the group clash.

The top two teams in each of the three groups will be joined by the best two qualifiers in the quarters.

P W D L Pts
El Merreikh 2      2     0     0       6  
Mathare 2      2     0     0       6
Atraco 2      0     0      2       0
Kartileh 2      0     0      2       0

Ends