Nigerian champions Enyimba of Aba grabbed a magnificent 2-1 victory at TS Galaxy in the second leg of the CAF Confederation Cup playoff to win 4-1 on aggregate and book passage to the group stage of the competition where they will be joined by Rangers International who drew 2-2 on aggregate with Togolese champions ASC Kara following a 1-0 victory at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium on Sunday.
Having dispatched the South African second division side 2-0 in the first-leg at the Enyimba Stadium in Aba a week ago, Enyimba travelled to the Mbombela Stadium home of Galaxy safe in the knowledge that a draw would be sufficient to secure a group stage berth.
The Aba Elephants went one further, however, by securing an impressive 2-1 victory courtesy of two second-half goals from Daniel Darkwah in the 76th minute and Martins Usule in the 82nd minute.
Galaxy who are the first South African second division side to play in the competition pulled one back in the 89th minute through Terrence Mashego but it proved to be a consolatory effort as the Nigerians held on to win and make a nonsense of Galaxy president Tim Sukazi’s pre-game boasts of victory.
Elsewhere, Rangers International progressed to the group stage on away goals following a 1-0 victory against ASC Kara in Enugu which saw the tie end 2-2 on aggregate.
The Togolese had won the reverse fixture 2-1 but Rangers’ away goal in the first leg proved precious as Chinonso Eziekwe’s solitary goal at the Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium proved enough to see the Flying Antelopes through to the group stage of Africa’s second-tier inter-club competition.
Enyimba and Rangers will discover their group stage opponents when the draws for the group stage are held on 10 November 2019 in Egypt.
