The Kenyan side struggled to establish themselves as an attacking force in the both halves of the encounter as they wasted several chances.
The visitors’ only chance of the half came on the stroke of halftime when Aboubakar Meelad found himself a space but squandered the chance..
Substitute Adam had an opportunity to secure the win for Homeboyz in the closing minutes of the game but his effort sailed over the bar.
Odhiambo lamented his side’s lack of sharpness in-front of goal but remains hopeful that his side can turn around the fortunes in Libya.
“We really wanted to score a goal and win the game, but we didn’t utilise our chances but I believe we can still have opportunities at the return leg. We were just unlucky that we didn’t score. We are going to rectify our mistakes ahead of the second leg, our opponents are beatable in their own backyard. At least we didn’t concede a goal at home,” said Odhiambo.
But Libyan coach Mohammed Ouda was satisfied with the result.“We are thankful with the results, we closed down on our opponent and now are ready for the second leg. We had just prepared for ten days but going to the second leg, we will do better,” said the Egyptian coach.
The second leg will be played in Libya on August 27, with the aggregate winner of the two duels advancing to face Rayon Sports of Rwanda in the second round of the preliminaries.
CAF have temporarily allowed Homeboyz to use the Nyayo Stadium, despite not yet being fully certified, but in the event they make it into the group stages, then they will have to look for an alternative venue outside the country.
Kakamega Homeboyz Starting XI: Farouk Shikalo, Erick Ambunya, Brian Wekesa, Robinson Kamura, Brian Eshihanda, Estone Esiye, Moses Mudavadi, Hillary Juma, Kevin Amwayi, Ambrose Sifuna, Moses Shumah.
Subs: Paul Adam, Potipher Odhiambo, Alex Imbusia, John Otieno, Christopher Masinza, Brian Buleti, Stephen Opoku, Gospel Okoth, James Ssetuba
Al Hilal Benghazi Starting XI: Husamedin Ahmed, Bashier Alkarami, Mohamed Abdullah, Jaefar Iddriss, Osman Alshareef, Aboubakar, Meelad, Kevin Eze, Abdilkadir Ghorab, Ahmed Ramadhan, Ibrahim Abdulhadi, Abdulsalam Muftah
Subs: Ahmed Aliadawi, Khaled Almsmari, Kelvin Andoh, Ezzeddin Elmarmi, Salim Mohamed
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