The West Beirut derby is back. That was the lasting impression following Saturday's rip-roaring clash of the old foes in Bhamdoun. In recent seasons AUB, victors over LAU in two of the first three championship finals, have played second fiddle to their neighbours from just up the road in Hamra – second fiddle with broken strings. Indeed, Saturday's victory was AUB's first over the Immortals since May 2005 and ended an ugly losing streak of eight matches, spanning three seasons, and including two finals. It was also the perfect way to avenge one of those finals, last season's Winter Championship.

LAU got off to the worst possible start, conceding a penalty for kicking off on the full and allowing AUB to exert some early pressure. LAU's defence held on resolutely but the Wolves' own defence prevented them from clearing their own red zone. On the back of this territorial domination, big AUB prop Adel Kanzo gave his side the lead with a bullocking run in the 10th minute, then 8 minutes later repeated the dose from close range after a series of penalties  - one of which saw prop Nayef Abi Said sin-binned for a professional foul - had put LAU under extreme pressure. Wael Barakat kicked one conversion to give his side a 10-0 lead. LAU were given their first chance to attack when centre Hisham Hoss fumbled the kick off, and a few minutes later LAU captain Jawad Fakih exploited a stumble in AUB's defence to race through and touch down under the posts. The Wolves hit back in the 29^th minute after LAU scrum half Karim Jamal's skewed offload was gobbled up by AUB's increasingly impressive fullback, Megho Keychian, who linked up with Hoss only for the centre to be dragged down five metres shy of the goal-line. Two tackles later AUB were in again, with Barakat slipping an inside ball to Mounir Finan who was unstoppable despite Robin Hachache's best efforts. LAU were then suddenly reduced to 12-men in dramatic style as fiery centre Mohamed Jamil was dismissed for his involvement in an unsavoury incident direct from the kick off. Clearly not satisfied with having restored their 10-point margin, the rapacious Wolves maintained the assault. Classy centre Wael Harb's long break was chased down by a desperate Fakih, but Jad Abinassif combined with five eighth Anthony Ghissen who delivered a scoring pass to Marwan Hassaniye, the wing registering a handy first touch in rugby league.

Crucially, AUB then scored the first try of the second period. A high tackle by Ahmed Hammoud gave AUB an attacking platform from which Fadi Kharsa, on the end of a series of offloads, profited. But at 24-6, AUB's wheels began to slow down, and then threatened to fall off, setting the scene for an heroic 12-man LAU fight-back that twice had them within two points. The irrepressible Fakih almost single-handedly hauled his side out of the fire, scoring three second half tries in a sensational all round performance. The first of these came after patient LAU approach play. They completed a tight set with an aggressive kick chase that forced the covering Keychian into his own goal line. From the ensuing goal-line drop-out Fakih raced around the left to hare in untouched. Jamal's second conversion put LAU to within two converted tries of a draw. Then, when Rudy Hachache went over in the 59^th minute the proverbial cat was well and truly amongst the pigeons.

AUB, so confident and methodical in the first half, were beginning to panic. Two needless penalties late in two LAU sets, then Ghissen's fumbled scoot, allowed LAU to ratchet up the pressure. Fakih bagged his hat-trick try in the 71st minute, bringing the score to 24-22, then Hachache, diving for the potential go-ahead score, was ruled to have been bundled touch-in-goal as the game reached a fever pitch denouement. The deflated Immortals allowed Harb to restore AUB's two-score advantage with a typically searing run through the heart of LAU's defence, but Fakih ensured the drama would continue until the final whistle after he scored on a long break. With 30-seconds on the clock LAU, in desperately trying to engineer a winning score, lost possession, ending a remarkable game of football.