
The homers, guided by Jean Baptiste Kayiranga dominated the second half with Rayon Sport trio, Jabber Imanishimwe, Kevin Muhire and Nshuti leading raids upfront but the winner remained elusive.
Imanishimwe, Salum Yamini and Muhire and Itangishaka were also culpable of missing goal scoring opportunities that would have ensured victory and put Rwanda in a good stead ahead of the return leg in a fortnight.
The visitors were the better side in the first half and deservedly levelled few minutes past the half-hour mark to put their dream on course.
“We need to work hard for the next game and see if we can qualifier” said Rwanda coach Kayiranga.
Gambia was the biggest winner, grabbing a 2-0 win away against Sierra Leone in the northern city of Makeni. Bun Sanneh and Ablie Jallow scored in the second half to ensure victory.
In Maputo, Dinis Renato Ibrahim’s 74th minute goal gave Mozambique a lone goal win over Mauritius.
Swaziland were held to a 2-2 draw by Namibia in Lobamba. Visiting Namibia led 2-1 at half time thanks to strikes from Bonifasius Paulino and Kennedy Eib with Mbutfo Mtetwa scoring in between. Justice Figareido drew level for the host on 56 minutes from the spot.
Earlier on Friday, Tunisia beat Niger 3-0 in the northern town of Oued Ellil. The host led 1-0 at half time thanks to Ahmed Radaoui who scored from the spot on nine minutes. Jasser Khmiri doubled the lead on 61 minutes before Bassem Srarfi took the game beyond the visitors with the third six minutes later
Results
Friday, 1 April 2016
Tunisia 3-0 Niger
Saturday, 2 April 2016
Sierra Leone 0-2 Gambia
Rwanda 1-1 Uganda
Mozambique 1-0 Mauritius
Swaziland 2-2 Namibia
Sunday, 3 April 2016
Liberia vs Guinea
Algeria vs Mauritania
Sudan vs Kenya
Zimbabwe vs Botswana
Ethiopia vs Somalia