ZIMBABWE international striker, Edward Sadomba, got off to a flying start in the Sudanese topflight with his goals firing giants Al Hilal to the top of the log standings after four games. It may be early days yet but Sadomba and Al Hilal have already sounded warning shots of their intentions to reclaim the championship title they lost to bitter rivals El Merreikh after a close fight last year.

With all the teams in the league having played four games, Al Hilal are on top with 10 points having won three and drawn once.

Sadomba underlined his significance to the Al Hilal aspirations when he fired a brace on Friday night as the 2010 champions thumped Jazeerat Alt Feel 40 at the Hilal Stadium in Omudurman.

According to reports from Khartoum, Sadomba grabbed his brace either side of half time, his strikes sandwiching a goal each by Sudanese internationals defender Eldin Masawi in the 33rd minute and striker Bakri Elmadina in the 42nd.

Sadomba had opened his account in the 27th minute, set up Masawi’s with a cross from the left before he sealed his team’s win with a header right at the death.

The victory took Al Hial’s points tally to 10, one ahead of Merreikh and three in front of El Amal Otbara, who just like Merreikh will visit Zimbabwe this weekend for a Confederation Cup date against Hwange at the Colliery.

Crucially for Sadomba, the brace took his goals tally in the league to date to four from three matches and the former Dynamos speed merchant is also his club’s leading scorer as Al Hilal have scored seven goals and conceded one in the championship race.

Sadomba missed one league match when he flew back home to testify before the Zimbabwe Republic Police’s Serious Frauds squad and the Justice Ebrahim Independent committee in the ongoing Asiagate probe.

Merreikh, who are expected to fly into the country this afternoon for a Champions League first round date with 2011 Premiership runnersup FC Platinum, also kept pace with the leaders when hammering Al Neel 50 on the same night that Sadomba shot Al Hilal team to the top.

Such is the intense start to the race for the Sudanese league title that only three points separate Al Hilal and the team that is fourth on the log standings.

Sadomba, speaking from his base in Khartoum yesterday noted the intensity of the championship race and revealed that Al Hilal had resolved to try and win every game if they are to keep their noses in front.

“It has been a close race from Day One and you cannot afford any slipup. Merreikh lost 21 on the opening day of the season and now we are a point ahead of the.

“We did have a chat about the championship race and as Al Hilal we have vowed that our worst result should be a draw and that we have to try our best to win every match.

We last won the league in 2010 and then won the FA Cup last year so we would not be happy to see Merreikh winning back to back league titles at our expense,’’ Sadomba said.

The Warriors international will also lead the Al Hilal attack when they begin their Champions League campaign with an away assignment against little know DFC of the Central African Republic.

Just like all the seeded teams in the Champions League, Al Hilal will start their campaign away and are expected to fly out to the Central African Republic today.

Although his team might not have won the biggest club prize on the continent, Sadomba has sweet memories of last year’s Champions League as his seven goals for Al Hilal helped him win the tournament’s Golden Boot Award last year. Last year Al Hilal were knocked out in the semifinals by eventual champions Esperance.

“We have to go to Central Africa Republic and get a positive result so that we can advance to the second round.

“Although some people might be looking to see how I will do in this year’s Champions League I will have to put club before any personal achievements so what is important now is to help the team reach the group stages and we see what happens from, there,’’ Sadomba said.