Durban City underlined their debut in the Caf Confederation Cup with a 1-0 win over Rukinzo FC of Burundi in a first leg preliminary round fixture at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The KwaZulu-Natal side were dominant for most of the game and could have won by a larger margin had their finishing been more clinical.
Indeed, the home side started strongly, enjoying plenty of ball possession, and as the half progressed, enjoyed frequent chances on goal.
The first of those opportunities arrived on 14 minutes, when Siyabonga Msomi ran onto a set-piece routine, but was unable to direct his header on target.
Tashreeq Morris then had two headed efforts in quick succession – one from a back-post cross by Bandile Shandu, the other from an in-swinging delivery from Haashim Domingo, but both were pouched by Rukinzo keeper David Nkurunziza.
There were another couple of openings for the Citizens ahead of the half-time interval, but the scoreline remained unaltered as Domingo fired a long range shot over the bar while Sirino did well to bring down a loose ball in the box and get a volley away, but from a tight angle his effort veered wide.
Durban City continued with their dominance after the half-time break, Morris coming within inches of finding the net, only for Nkurunziza to pull off a fingertip save to keep the header out the net.
In the 55th minute John Mokone came even closer when he embarked on a storming run down the left wing, beating his man before seeing his cross-cum-shot skimming off the crossbar.
Finally though City’s efforts were to pay off in the 66th minute, with a well-worked move resulting in a goal as Kyle Jurgens threaded in Samkelo Maseko, whose cut-back was steered into the bottom corner of the net by Rukinzo midfielder Ally Magambo, who had Sirino snapping at his heels.
There were several chances for the Citizens to extend the lead, including when Alou Doumbia’s cross was deflected by a defender onto the crossbar, as well as a header from Siphamandla Ncanana which was close, but 1-0 was how it remained at full time in Durban.
The second leg takes place in Burundi next Sunday – 13 September.
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