JOHANNESBURG: Kariobangi Sharks of Kenya were the most convincing CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round first leg winners Tuesday as they hammered Arta Solar of Djibouti 6-1 in Nairobi.
Other clubs to win by wide margins included Mtibwa Sugar of Tanzania, Bel Abbes of Algeria, Petro Atletico of Angola and Hassania Agadir of Morocco, who all triumphed 4-0 at home. The 10 first legs produced only one away win as 1966 African champions Stade Abidjan of the Ivory Coast left Mauritania with a 2-1 lead over Nouakchott Kings.
Kariobangi wasted little time establishing their dominance over Arta with a Duke Abuya goal and a Sidney Lokale brace giving the Nairobi club a three-goal advantage within 17 minutes. Partillah Omotto got a fourth goal for the Sharks before Komenan Dar Konan converted a penalty just before half-time in a match between Confederation Cup debutants.
Ugandan George Abege and Fidel Origa scored in the final quarter to give Kariobangi a five-goal advantage ahead of the return match in Djibouti City next week.Jaffray Kibaya scored a hat-trick and Riphat Khamis a last-minute goal as Mtibwa swept aside Northern Dynamo of the Seychelles near Dar es Salaam.
It was an encouraging start for a Tanzanian outfit making their first appearance in the second-tier African club competition since the maiden edition, 14 years ago.Bel Abbes finished strongly, scoring three times in the final 14 minutes, to overwhelm Liberian visitors LISCR with Mohamed Seguer bagging a brace.