The AUB Wolves got muddied on Saturday, losing 14-20 in an epic challenge against Balamand Razorbacks. The top of the table fixture promised to be a close battle and certainly lived up to that as both teams threw themselves at one another.

The opening minutes of the match saw the Wolves? star fullback Wael Harb stamping his mark on the game, clinically slicing his way through the Razorback defensive line to score the first try of the match directly under the posts. Captain Karim Mourabet converted, marking an early 6-0 lead for the Wolves. Distinctively, two key players from both teams ? Mourabet and Omar Darwiche, the Razorbacks? half-back ? directed their teams against one another, but while initially attempting to pinpoint the other?s weaknesses, they ended up in a brawl which saw them both sin-binned.

The loss of Mourabet was the perfect opportunity for Balamand, with star lock Wael Tawil pummelling his way through to score a well-deserved, unconverted, try. AUB?s 2-point lead was nearly broken in the 25th-minute by a one-handed dive over the try line by Razorback fullback Riad Khoury. While Balamand cheekily celebrated an apparent try, the touch-judge raised ruled it had been held up by Wolves scrum-half, Anthony Ghossein. This saw the 6-4 margin remain until the half-time whistle.

Four minutes into the second-half, the Razorbacks fashioned a long break, resulting in a swift play the ball and a rare penalty try as the Wolves obstructed play while scrambling to return to an on-side position. Tawil?s conversion, made it 10-6.

Forced to strike back, Harb shifted into a higher gears and in the 49th-minute touched down in the left-corner of the field, tying the scores. The exciting Harb then single-handedly scored again - his seventh of the season - this time in the opposite corner, resulting in a 14-10 lead.

With 20-minutes remaining Balamand took the lead back through a quick handling move out wide, utilising the full width of the field, with Omar Darwiche offloading to his captain, Gilbert Haydamous, who in turn passed to the supporting Tawil, who dove in at the corner. The Wolves discipline then began to fray, and it wasn?t long before Tawil capitalised, scoring his third on 74 minutes. AUB?s final attempt to claw back a share of the points was thwarted heroically by Haydamous, who brought Harb down inches from the line to protect the northerners? perfect start to the season.