APR wallop Wau El Salaam in opener

Kagame Cup YesterdayAPR 7-0 Wau El SalaamYanga 0-2 AthleticoTodayAzam vs Mfunzo 1pm SS9Simba vs URA 3pm SS9APR FC got off to a brilliant start in this year’s Cecafa/Kagame Cup Championships after walloping South Sudan’s Wau El Salaam 7-0 in the Group C opening match played on Saturday at the National stadium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.Lionel St. Preux and Yannick Selemani Ndukumana scored a brace each to help the three-time winners sent an early warning to the rest of their opponents with a resounding win against the debutants.Haitian import Lionel St. Preux striker opened the floodgates with a 20th minute well-taken penalty after Kabange Twite had been impeded in the penalty area.Ten minutes later, Burundian international Yannick Selemani Ndikumana added the second after he raced on a goalkeeper Jean Claude Ndoli’s long clearance. Skipper Olivier Karekezi scored the third goal five minute to half time.Midfielder Jean Baptiste Mugiraneza grabbed the fourth goal three minutes after recess. The former La Jeunesse and SC Kiyovu’s playmaker headed home a god cross from Dan Wagaluka.St. Preux added his second and APR’s fifth on the 50th minute and Ndikumana made it six five minutes later as the army side ran rampant. Second half substitute Barnabe Mubumbyi, who came in for Karekezi, sealed the emphatic win with his maiden goal for Ernest Brandt’s team.Wau El Salaam, who had a penalty claim turned down by the referee as early as the fifth minute, posed minimal threat in-front of APR’s goal, and will now have three days to regroup and see whether they can snatch a better result against the champions Yanga on Tuesday.The victory took APR on the summit of Group C with three points and a superior goal difference.APR has won the regional tournament in 2004, 2007 and 2010 but on all occasions, the tournaments were hosted in Kigali, now the club will be hoping to replicate the same form outside the country.The Rwandan league and cup champions return to action next Tuesday with tricky contest against Burundi’s Athletico, who stunned Yanga 2-0 in the day’s second game. APR wind up their group stage fixtures against Yanga on Friday.The winner of the 11-team Cecafa Club Championship, which ends on July 28, will walk away with US$30,000, while the runner-up and third-placed side will receive $20,000 and $10,000 respectively.