Al-Galacticos debutant Mohamed Mourtada thought he had snatched the most dramatic of wins in a cliffhanger of a match at Balamand on Friday night. With two minutes remaining, and his Jounieh side trailing 16-14, the diminutive former St George junior shot out of the line, intercepting Firas El Mir’s pass and galloped over the line – only for referee Remond Safi to blow for offside and drawing the curtain on an exciting contest that hung in the balance for all of its eighty pulsating minutes.

Balamand, with only a win against lowly USJ to show for its last five outings, and having leaked points like a sieve, received bad tidings prior to the match, with Liban Espoir backs Riad Khoury and Youssef Chagoury and former Espoir centre Najy Bassil all late withdrawals. But, in a move that exemplified their rekindled determination, Chagoury bravely swapped his sick bed for his boots, turning in a key performance that proved instrumental to his side’s magnificent victory. Not only did he score the winning try with 11 minutes left, he ably marked Jounieh’s strike centre Ghassan Dandash, stemming countless attacks launched by Jounieh’s left hand side.

The Razorbacks welcomed back influential five-eighth Gilbert Haydamous, returned from a work stint in Germany, and although he and lock Wael Tawil organized and probed in midfield, in El Mir Balamand had the best player on the park. The hooker was at the heart of everything the Razorbacks did well, most markedly a return to the off-the-cuff, offloading brand of football that has become synonymous with the northerners. El Mir’s first try came on the back of thirty minutes of pressure, with Tawil habitually using the wind to his advantage, pinning Jounieh in its own half. With both sides completing their sets and Jounieh defending their line manfully, it took a sweeping Balamand move, punctuated by two fine offloads before El Mir was finally able to cut past the over-extended cover and score under the posts.

Tawil’s conversion overhauled Jounieh’s 4-0 lead, courtesy of Ahmad El Masri’s barnstorming 19^th minute try against the run of the play. That spectacular score came at a price, though, costing Jounieh one of its most dangerous ball carriers, with El Masri limping off to join Youssef Helou, Nicolas Chammas and Elie Khoury amongst Jounieh’s incapacitated forward corps.

Jounieh retook the lead two minutes before the break, with Dandash managing to scoot over following a threatening run by Pierre Nasr had Balamand’s defence in tatters, with a rare scrum win against the head having set up the position. Balamand hit back through the inspirational El Mir on 50 minutes. Taking a quick tap he tore through the dozing Jounieh ranks, haring half the length of the field to score a critical try, making it 10-8. Five minutes later Jounieh took the lead for a third time after the otherwise excellent Mounib Ismael, filling in superbly for Khoury at fullback, knocked on Nasr’s stab kick. From the scrum a well worked move saw Dandash thundering over. But still the Razorbacks, doing their best bloodied prize-fighter impersonation, wouldn’t stay down, with Chagoury using his power to bustle over after a penalty had given the home side a gilt-edged attacking position. Jounieh thought they had taken the lead – decisively - for the fourth time, but for the shrill report of Safi’s capricious whistle as Moutarda strode away.