TELECOM Wanderers of Malawi staged a dramatic comeback at the weekend to reach the first round of the African Champions League. Wanderers, in trouble following a 1-0 home loss to Mauritian club Scouts, stormed back on the Indian Ocean island and triumphed 3-1 in the second leg of a preliminary tie. The Central Africans raced into a three-goal lead after 56 minutes through George Mnelemba, Hendrix Banda and Leonard Malunga before Ali Yusuf snatched a last-minute consolation goal.
The Lesotho Defence Force was another team to display fighting spirit as they came from behind in their capital Maseru to defeat Notwane of Botswana 3-1 and qualify 4-2 on aggregate.
Kawembe Mayele was the two-goal hero as former East and Central Africa champions Rayon Sport of Rwanda defeated Red Sea of Eritrea 2-0 following a drawn first leg. Al-Mahall, the first Libyan entrants since the North Africa country went into a self-imposed exile six years ago, overcame a two-goal, first-leg deficit by outclassing Cotonchad of Chad 3-0 in Tripoli.
Saint Michel United of Seychelles caused the biggest Cup Winners Cup upset with a penalty-shootout win over Fire Brigade of Mauritius in an Indian Ocean derby.
Meanwhile, South Africa beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in the African junior championship second-round results at the weekend. The second leg will be played on February 21. — AFP