Harambee Starlets of Kenya

The race for this year's Africa Women Cup of Nations took another dimension yesterday as two-time winners Equatorial Guinea suffered a shocking defeat to Kenya.

 Having an array of top players like Genoveva Anonman, Chinasa Okoro and Jade Boho Sayo, the Equatoguineans lost 2-1 to the Harambee Starlets of Kenya in the first leg, final round qualifiers.

Real Madrid forward Boho Sayo gave the visiting side the lead after 39 minutes when she tucked home from an Anonman's corner kick which the Starlets failed to clear away.

Kenya swiftly responded after going down through Teresea Engesha who latched home a 35-yard screamer for the equaliser, beating goalkeeper Lucrecia Boabaila in her territory.

Substitute Esse Akida netted the match winner from a close range in the encounter after been nicely teed up by Cynthia Shilwatso.

Elsewhere, defending champions Nigeria's Super Falcons managed a slim 1-0 win over Queen Scorpions of Gambia at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.

In a keenly contested game which saw the Gambians matched the Nigerian team strength for strength, Nasarawa Amazons playmaker Amarachi Okoronkwo scored the only goal from 25-yard.

Cameroon women's national team

Hosts Congo were no match for their visitors Cameroon who found the net in both sides of the game to record an emphantic 5-0 victory.

Thérésa Abena, Ajara Njoya, Ngono Manie gave the Cameroonian national team a 3-0 lead after half time before Grâce Yango and Gabrielle Aboudi completed the rout after the break.

At the July 5th Stadium in Algiers, Ethiopia who beat Libya 15-0 on aggregate in the previous phase of the continental qualifiers, fell 3-1 to Algeria.

Rehima Zerega, Assia Sidhoum and Fatma Sekouane were all on target, giving Algeria the advantage ahead of the concluding fixture; while Madina Ramadani grabbed the consolatory goal for Ethiopia.

South Africa were 1-0 winners over Lesotho at the Setsoso Stadium thanks to a Leandra Smeda's solitary goal scored in the early minutes of the contest.

Makore celebrates after scoring a goal

Sensational striker Rutendo Makore marked her return to Zimbabwean women's national team after an injury layoff with a goal against Zambia.

Makore who missed her side games against Tanzania due to the injury she sustained while at her former club Sporting Huelva of Spain, netted on the 18th minute to hand Zimbabwe the maximum points.

Côte d'Ivoire came from behind on two occasions to settle for a 2-2 draw with their guests Mali.

The return leg qualifiers comes up on the 10th and 11th of June, with the overall winners qualifying for the finals in Ghana between November 16 to December 1, 2018.

Full Results:

 Kenya 2-1 Equatorial Guinea
Gambia 0-1 Nigeria
Congo 0-5 Cameroon
Algeria 3-1 Ethiopia
Lesotho 0-1 South Africa
Zambia 0-1 Zimbabwe
Côte d'Ivoire 2-2 Mali



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