Stade Tunisien defender Anis Nasri (left) vies with Ismaili's Mohamed Abu Qoreisha

Egyptian side Ismaili, who were the beaten finalists in last year's African Champions League final, were knocked out of the Confederation Cup in the first round on Saturday.

The Egyptians travelled to face North African rivals Stade Tunisien with a 2-1 advantage from the first leg but went down 2-0 in Tunis, thus crashing out 3-2 on aggregate.

Yet the Tunisian side left it late and only scored their first goal of the match after 76 minutes, when Said Essaibi fired home.

With the aggregate scores level, Ismaili would have gone through on the away goal ruling but Bassam Eddaassi scored Stade Tunisien's all-important second of the match with just eight minutes left to win the tie.

Meanwhile, South Africans Wits University got what they were looking for when exiting the Confederation Cup on the away goal ruling after drawing with Madagascar's Leopards Transfoot 3-3 on aggregate.

Concerned over the rising costs of participating in the continental event, Wits fielded a second-string side in the 2-2 draw against Leopards Transfoot in Johannesburg.

Bizarrely, Wits missed a glorious opportunity to win the game in stoppage time when Zimbabwean striker Alois Bunjira hit over the top of the goal when just inches from the Transfoot goalline.

The first game had finished 1-1, and Wits University were leading 2-1 at half-time in the second leg thanks to goals from Gareth Devine and Alois Bunjira.

Yet Francky Randriansoloniaina scored his second goal of the match for the visitors after 54 minutes to level the scores once again and ensure an upset for the Madagascan side.

Meanwhile, Ghana's King Faisal Babes thrashed Power Dynamos of Zimbabwe 4-0 in Kumasi.

Abubakari Yahuza opened the scoring on eleven minutes, with captain Hamza Mohammed doubling the tally 18 minutes later.

Striker Eric Gawu, who missed countlss chances in the game, scored the third on the stroke of half-time and added another in the 87th minute.

King Faisal thus qualify on a 5-0 aggregate and will meet Santos of South Africa in he next round next month.

Tunisia's Club Africain are also through to the next round after beating Gambian side Wallidan 3-0 in Tunis, thanks to goals from Khaled Mouelhi, Achraf Khalfaoui and Tarak Salem.

Club African win 4-2 on aggregate.

Another North African team safely through the first round is FAR of Morocco, who won 3-2 against Olympic of Niger in Niamey thanks to goals from Rehda Moktari, Hicham Zerouali and Rachid Regadi.

FAR won the tie 6-2 on aggregate, while domestic rivals Wydad Casablanca also made it through the round.

Wydad held Etoile Filante to a goalless draw in Casablanca, which meant the Moroccans went through 1-0 on aggregate following their first leg win.

However, fellow North Africans Chabab Belouizdad of Algeria had a less enjoyable day.

The Algerian side beat Etoile of Guinea 2-1 at home, but exited the competition on away goals after losing the first match 1-0 in West Africa.

In Senegal, home side Douanes beat InterClube of Angola 2-1 for a second time to win the tie 4-2 on aggregate.

The match between Motema Pembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Green Buffaloes of Zambia has been postponed until next Monday, after the Tanzanian referees appointed to officiate the match failed to arrive in time.

They had been expected in the country on Saturday morning but an FA spokesman said they were unable to travel as scheduled due to unforeseen problems with travel documents.

The match will now take place on Monday.