South Sudan Premier League champions El Merriekh Bentiu have stopped Gor Mahia FC (Kenya) in the first leg 1st preliminary round of the 2024/25 CAF Champions League.

After a goalless first half, Mohamed Musa gave El Merriekh Bentiu the lead after 67 minutes to send the home fans into jubilation at the Juba Stadium.

El Merriekh Bentiu’s win comes after getting good build-up matches when they played in the recent CECAFA Dar Port Kagame Cup where they held SC Villa (Uganda) to a 0-0 draw, lost 1-0 to Rwanda’s APR FC and lost 3-1 to Singida Black Stars FC (Tanzania).

In another match involving teams from the CECAFA Zone hosts Azam FC (Tanzania) beat APR FC 1-0 at the Azam Complex in Dar es salaam. Brazilian import Jhonier Blanco converted a penalty after 56 minutes after Fei Toto had been brought down in the box.

Later JKU SC (Zanzibar) will also face Pyramids FC in Cairo, Egypt, while Al- Hilal (Sudan) also battle Al Ahly Benghazi in Libya.