Township Rollers of Botswana masterminded one of the biggest upsets in continental club football when they eliminated Sudanese giants, El Merreikh.
Merreikh managed a 2-1 win over Rollers on Wednesday in the second leg clash of the preliminary round in Omdurman, but Rollers advanced 4-2 on aggregate.
The visitors made the task very complicated for the home side as early as since the first minute, when Lemponye Tshireletso weaved his way past his marker, before delivering a shot which grazed the crossbar.
On two minutes, Joel Mogorosi connected a home a corner past Merreikh goalie, Jamal Salim for the opener. Merreikh struggled to find their feet, and matters were made worse by the pressure from the Botswana champions and also superb saves from goalkeeper Keeagile Kgosipula. Sierra Leonean-import Sheka Fofanah equalized in the 19th minute when he controlled nicely before firing past onrushing Kgosipula.
After the break, Merreikh pushed forward in search of more goals to annul the 3-0 loss from the first leg. Ahmed Adam and the playmaker Ahmed Al Tish made a big performance and showed big effort to motivate the home side, but strikers Khalid Al Nasan and Salih Al Ajab did not find enough space to move forward.
Rollers made many mistakes to stop the skill full Al Tish, who was brought down at the edge of the penalty area, and Tish himself sent the ball into the top left corner for the second goal, but it was very late.
