South African tactician Manqoba Mngqithi led his Young Africans charges to a 1-1 draw against Gaborone United in the CAF Champions League preliminary round first leg at Gaborone National Stadium on Saturday night.
Despite the encounter against the Tanzanian giants presenting the Reds with a daunting assignment, it was also an opportunity for the hosts to address one of the recurring shortcomings of local club football and they did not disappoint.
United have been the dominant force in their Botswana premiership over the past two seasons, winning back-to-back league titles and they came out guns blazing in this encounter.
They took a deserved 1-0 lead into to the locker room courtesy of Namibian midfield maestro Ambrosius Amseb’s strike in the 32nd minute.
The tie looked to be over, but Yanga did not give up as they pushed Gaborone till the end and found the equaliser deep in stoppage time to steal a point ahead of the second leg.
For Mngqithi and his troops, they will be looking to make home advantage count while Sean Connor will be hoping that his team produces the same performance to make it into the next round.
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