Bandari held by Ugandan champions in opener

Bandari FC played to one-all draw with Ugandan champions KCCA in their opening Cecafa Kagame Cup match played at Stade Huye in Butare Rwanda on Sunday afternoon .

Harambee Stars winger Abdalla Hassan opened the scoring for the Dockers inside the first minute before a Sadam Juma second half stunner earned the Kampala based side a point from the match.

Abdalla Hassan gave the Dockers the lead inside the first minute when he fired home from a William Wadri delivery from a corner kick.

The Ugandans started raiding in search of an equalizer and it took a fantastic save from Bandari keeper Farouk Shikalo in the 11th minute to deny Mike Mutyaba from an acrobatic effort.

Youngster Allan Okello was next to test Shikalo will a long-range attempt but the Harambee Stars keeper did well to parry the effort. Okello thought he had restored parity in the 26th minute but the offside flag cut shot his celebrations.

Fillbert Obenchan nearly doubled Bandari’s lead in the 38th minute when he deflected a short towards his goal but the ball narrowly went out for a corner kick. Bandari took a one goal lead to the break.

The start of the second half was balanced with both teams striving to take charge of the match.

Sadam Jum and Mike Mutyaba came close for Mutebi’s charges while Wadri, Hassan and newboy Danson Chetambe had Bandari’s best chances.

Against the run of play, KCCA equalized at the hour mark. Midfielder Sadam Juma picked the ball from the edge of the area, dribbled past several Bandari defenders before firing past a helpless Shikalo.

None of the sides could nick a winner in the closing stages of the match and in the end spoils were shared. Next for Bandari is a match against Mukura while KCCA will be up against Azam.