Match Report

Balamand failed to reclaim second spot from Jounieh after tying with the champions in a thrilling contest on Sunday lunchtime. Jounieh centre Ghassan Dandash netted three more tries, taking his tally to a league-leading 14 so far.

Balamand, who had recovered manfully from a 20-12 halftime deficit, looked set to grab both points, leading 28-20 following Sami Mansour’s gift-wrapped 63rd intercept of Hassan Merouwe’s telegraphed pass. But the never-say-die Al-Galacticos roared back, with rookie wing Ram Nakhleh making it 28-24 four minutes later before stand-in scrum half Merouwe expiated his earlier gaff by darting over with seven minutes remaining. Balamand five-eighth Abdul Bekdache, playing his last game before departing for Australia, pushed a late field goal attempt wide but both sides had spent themselves in a see-sawing, edgy contest.

Razorbacks’ top-scorer Riad Khoury bagged his tenth try in the 3rd minute, with both that and Omar Taleb’s 14th minute try cancelled out by typically robust Dandash efforts. Youssef El Helou and Dandash, again, both scored late in the half to give the double champions some breathing space at the interval.

The northerners had to score first in the second period, and they did through barnstorming forward Mohamed Chaker’s 42nd minute drive to the line. Veteran centre Nagy Bassil gave Balamand the lead on 57 minutes before the late exchange of scoring.

Both sides will fancy their chances of getting into the three, although Balamand, who have to play contenders AUB and Wolves in two of their last three matches, will no doubt miss the accuracy of the league’s best kicker as the season reaches its pointy end.