Rivers United secured a valuable away goal in a narrow 2-1 loss at Futuro Kings in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round at the Estadio De Mongomo Stadium on Saturday.

A battling rearguard performance saw Rivers United hold the hosts at the break but the Equatoguineans rallied after the interval to break the resolve of the Nigerians.

It took just a minute into the second period for Futuro, who were only formed in 2017, to breach the Rivers United back line with Gregoire Nkana firing them into the lead.

The hosts doubled their advantage in the 68th minute and appeared to be heading for a comfortable victory but Rivers United grabbed what could prove a crucial away goal when they halved the deficit through Godwin Aguda’s spot kick in the 77th minute.

Despite the loss, Stanley Eguma’s side will be confident of overturning the result against the debutants and progressing to the next round in the return leg at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium in the weekend of 4-6 December.