The A.U.B. Wolves registered their third convincing victory in the 2^nd quarter of the Bank of Beirut Championship on a hot and sunny Saturday 19^th January in Bhamdoun, beating Jounieh’s Al-Galacticos in a ferocious match by 29-18. The win signified The Wolves’ ascension to the third place in the overall championship’s seedings; and also stood to symbolise their definitive markings within the tournament as a formidable adversary.

Both clubs sported a celebrity-studded team, incorporating representatives from both Liban Espoir and President’s XIII; not to mention a new generation of stars. But as with all and every team, mistakes are to be made. As was the case on the 4^th minute, as the black-clad Al-Galacticos conceded a penalty that allowed The Wolves’ Australian veteran, Darren Kinnaird, to rocket the ball a magnificent distance and allow his team to start their set of 6 only 20 meters from their target try-line. Using a swift tact of swinging the ball out wide from one side of the field to the other, blood-red clothed Wolves utilised their Number 2, Winger Nader Dergham, who dove over the line in the 6^th minute to start the scoring in this match. Their Number 1, Star Full-Back Wael Harb, proceeded to successfully execute a notable conversion, and leave score at 6-0.

Al-Galacticos appeared to have found their fortune from their kick-off as a dropped ball allowed them the chance to start play in The Wolves’ red. It was through a quick use of speed and strength that the infamous Ghassan Dandash attempted to dexterously slice his way through The Wolves’ defensive line and dive over the try-line. Albeit his best efforts, the monolithic Adel Kenso tackled him with such force that the ball slipped through his hands, and the try was not to be. It was from the resulting scrum that the ball was effectively passed down the line and into the hands of the stealthy Harb, whose long stride propelled him down the whole length of the field, like a galloping gazelle, and etching yet more points for The Wolves on the 10^th minute.

Trailing 10-0, Al-Galacticos stepped up the pace, and sternly gritted their teeth to the challenge that awaited them. Some superb defensive work from Nicolas Chammas saw Dergham thrown out of play, and the ball returning to the hands of the men in black. Unfortunately after three massive attacks from Jounieh’s forwards, an unsuccessfully executed offload saw the ball knocked-on and their team back on the defensive. Through another display of unyielding defence, 2^nd Row Nabil Dora pummelled the red’s right Centre, Akram Al-Chamaa, out of the field of play, turning the tables yet again. Strike after strike Al-Galacticos fought their opponents to put some points on the board, and many times it seems their time would come. But The Wolves’ wily 5/8^th, Irishman Daniel Egan, intercepted a poor offload, to which their robust Prop, Mounir Finan scooped and charged forward, regaining some critical yards. Again on the back-foot, Jounieh’s constitution wavered only for a second, providing the hearty Wolves the perfect chance to strike. Using the indefatigable vigour of their forwards, the reds drove their opponent’s backward, exposing cracks in the defensive line. Egan leaped through, and despite being brought down, slickly offloaded to Kinnaird; who in turn, after losing his footing from a diving tackle from the black’s Captain and Full-Back, Pierre Nasr, offloaded to co-Captain Anthony Elghossain; who spirited his way all the distance, and put yet more points on for The Wolves in the 19^th minute. Another successful conversion from Harb marked the score at 16-0.

Al-Galacticos, tired and weary, fought on with passion and resilience. They resisted an arduous set of 6 from The Wolves that ended in them receiving a penalty when Egan craftily chipped the ball overhead, but pushed Dani Chamali while attempting to catch his own kick. They attempted to boot the ball down-field to gain as much yardage as possible, but The Wolves’ Armenian-Lebanese superstar Winger, Mego Kaychian, caprioled like a stallion and prevented the ball from leaving the field of play. Recovering it with grace, Kaychian spirited back toward his opponents, ducking their first attempt to bring him down, regaining his footing from the second, and continuing until Lock Youssef Helou secured a stalwart tackle. The Wolves’ Hooker and co-Captain, Karim El-Mourabet, delivered precision pass after pass from dummy-half, and utilised his forwards as a bastion of soldiers in the fight for another try. After Kenso’s powerful charge left the play only centimetres from the try-line, Finan scooped the ball and dove over the line. Only the unified defence from Dora, Helou and Jean Paul Zakhour managed to hold Finan up over the try-line; both preventing The Wolves from actualising another try and retrieving the play back for their team. Consecutive concrete defence from the likes of Nemer Saliba (2^nd Row), Ibrahim (Bobby) Sawli (2^nd Row), and Christopher Hobeiche (Lock), stole any chance of Al-Galacticos gaining yards; so they booted the ball downfield. Dandash dashed forward and caught the ball, but was brought down by Harb and Sawli, signifying a changeover. Making a few wise substitutions for tired players, Al-Galacticos then forced Kenso to knock the ball on, and once recovered, they bore forward, starved for a try. Nasr elusively charged his way downfield gaining some critical yards until Harb unwittingly tackled him high. Chammas then gave away his own penalty by charging The Wolves with his forearm raised. Seemingly, the ball was being exchanged like a game of table-tennis, particularly as Finan then surprisingly knocked it on. But in the resulting scrum-down, El Mourabet magically hooked the ball back to his team; but unfortunately for The Wolves, the referee ruled against that play, and returned the ball to Al-Galacticos in the form of a penalty after The Wolves’ forwards voiced their dismay to the call. Nasr then used his dexterous skills to slip through the red’s defence line, and assertively put his team onto the score board on the 32^nd minute. With Fadi Azzam’s conversion, Jounieh were now 16-6.

As the clock drew close to half-time, both teams were feeling the pressure of the energised match. As with many warriors who fight under the scorching sun, sometimes tempers rage louder than one’s will. Little to say, Nasr and Harb were yellow-carded for a sporadic eruption that transpired, and sin-binned for 10 minutes. The referee Faysal Jaber kept the teams in check, and returned to play with advantage A.U.B.; although that was soon lost from a knock-on. Al-Galacticos’ Chamali took the ball from the scrum, and dummying the defence line, leapt through a gap and over the line on the 38^th minute. Again, Azzam converted, securing the score at 16-12 for the first-half of the match.

A brief play continued that saw a solidly resounding tackle from Dergham and Kinnaird throwing Jounieh’s winger out of bounds; but half-time whistle was finally called. Both Coaches, Mikhael Shammas (The Wolves) & Jean Paul Zakhour (Al-Galacticos), spoke wise words embedded with tactful advice and resounding effect to their teams; for the 2^nd half promised to be an epic battle of titans. Neither team were to concede a defeat lightly, and both fought for equal stakes in the greater schema of the Lebanese National Bank of Beirut Championship.

The second-half began with The Wolves kicking-off, and was marked with efficient defence and offence as a number of proficient sets were completed successfully by both teams, and Nasr and Harb were brought back into the field 4 minutes into the half. Wolves Centre, Al-Chamaa, recovered a loose ball on the 7^th minute of the half, but was swung and brought down in an unsportsmanlike manner by Khalil Hejal. Again, heated mentalities flared, and Al-Chamaa carelessly threw the ball at Hejal. A short and controlled confrontation left the matches’ impartial and professional referees no choice but to yellow-card Al-Chamaa, Hejal, and even Chammas. Through these quick disciplinary actions, the matches focus returned back to the matter at hand: a good, solid game of rugby league. A tantalising play saw Harb make considerable ground and launch himself over the extreme corner of the try-line, but his try was to be denied as Dandash pummelled his opponent out and preventing the star Full-Back. But Harb was not to be denied for too long. Kaychian swiftly stole a loose offload, and once returning the ball to the Full-Back, Harb cunningly chipped the ball over Jounieh’s defensive line, and, running forward, caught it to dive over the line. Converting his own try, the scored stood at 22-12.

The perusing minutes of the match witnessed elevated levels of skill and determination. Both teams unyielding in the face of their opponents, and resounded a truly athletic performance. It was then that The Wolves then made their first two substitutions of the game: Mohammad Akkar for Sawli, and Mohammad Tawil for Dergham. Kinnaird executed one of the definitive tackles of the game, and seconds later, while standing at 2^nd marker, Egan launched his body and preventing Al-Galacticos to kick downfield. The Wolves gained some significant yards, but Jounieh’s defence stood strong and prevented a try to be scored; so on their 5^th and last play, El-Mourabet drop-kicked and brought the scoring to 23-12.

Furthering Jounieh’s solid performance, they halted The Wolves attacks, forcing them to change over. It was then that Akkar made his mark on the game with a resounding tackling that sent cheers throughout the stadiums stands. He reinvigorated the A.U.B. defence, and prevented Jounieh’s chances to score. Once the ball was back in the hands of the red, Kinnaird stealthily offloaded to his Winger, Tawil; whose nimble feet ducked the first attempt to bring him down, then a magical spin-move saw off the second attacker. The third time was Jounieh’s charm, and after bearing him down; they then prevented Finan from scoring in the corner with some solid protection of their line. With the ball back in the black’s hands, they thrust forward, giving it to Dandash, who launched himself down the field; only to be halted by an insatiable tackle from Al-Chamaa. The resulting force accidentally broke Dandash’s nose, but once the blood was wiped away, he carried on like a true warrior. Capitalising on a positioning error, Al-Galacticos won a penalty that saw them gain some definitive yards, and precision play witnessed them only millimetres from the try-line. Mourabet, in defence, attempted to dive on the ball once played, but he incurred a penalty, and allowed Jounieh a further chance to score. Passing the ball into the hands of the powerful Chammas, he drove forward to penetrate the awaiting reds, but he failed to expect huge combined hit from Elghossain and Saliba; accidently knocking the ball on. Angry and hungry for that try, Al-Galacticos acted as a solid unit, and forced The Wolves into error, returning the ball back into their own hands. After four hard and close plays, Al-Galacticos popped the ball to their veteran and coach, Zakhour, who meandered through A.U.B.’s defence and secured them a try on the 68^th minute. Azzam converted, and the score stood 23-18.

The A.U.B. Wolves were not to be denied a final try though, and markedly acting as a fearsome pack of wolves, regained the ball to their possession. Fortunately, after an astounding charge by Finan, a group tackle on him attempted to strip the ball from his grasp. This gained The Wolves another set of 6 even closer to the try-line, and swiftly playing it out wide to their Lock, Hobeiche, he sped through a gap in the defensive line, only to be held up in the try-zone by Chamali and Helou’s combined effort. Jounieh stealthily slipped through tackle after tackle, and it seemed they might execute an astounding comeback; but alas, the wily Egan sneakily stole the ball out of their very hands during play. Using the possession wisely, El-Mourabet directed his forwards in a stunning display of sheer power, resulting in Kenso’s prominent and definitive try. Harb’s last conversion saw the score rest at 29-18.

With only one minute remaining, Al-Galacticos attempted to return, but albeit their best efforts, time was their enemy. Both teams exited the field in high spirits, tunnelling and congratulating each other with the highest level of sportsmanship. While enemies on the field, they were all friends off of it.