By George Aluo

Rivers United yesterday recorded a comfortable 2-0 home victory over Rwandan side RayonSports in the CAF Confederation Cup knock out stage.

The victory puts the Port Harcourt side in good stead to land in the group stage of the competition, should they not bungle things in Kigali in the return leg as they did against Sudanese side El Merriekh in the more lucrative CAF champions league.

Rivers United and Rangers were relegated to the second tier competition after failing to progress in the CAF champions league. Rangers crashed out of the competition on Saturday after being battered 3-0 in Zambia by Zesco United.

In yesterday’s game in Port Harcourt, Rivers United scored both halves to take a comfortable 2-0 lead into the return leg.

Meanwhile, RayonSports had before the game confessed that they lost to a good host.

Head coach of Rayon Sports, Masudi Djuma explained that he was taken aback by the friendly reception received by the Rwandese contingent.

“Everything has been perfect since we arrived in Nigeria. We have been well treated since we arrived from the Airport in Lagos to Port Harcourt,” Djuma told supersport.com.

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“We were slightly surprised at how friendly everyone was even though we have heard about how hospitable Nigeria is.

“We thank Nigerians for their warm reception and we promise to treat Rivers United good when they come to Kigali for the return leg,” he said.

Djuma then discussed his side’s fantastic start to this season’s Rwanda National Football League.

Djuma says four major factors have been largely responsible for the side’s strong start this season.

“The first is God; I trust so much in God. I also believe in myself and I believe in my players. “Finally, my players all believe in themselves. When you combine these four things plus luck, you become successful.

“We will not think too much about our good form domestically or Rivers’ poor form in the Nigerian league because leagues are different.

“Back home in Rwanda, I know what to do in every game and in every situation because I understand all the opponents but it is different in Caf club competitions.”