LEBANON secured their first win of the World Cup campaign in impressive fashion, with a 32-14 drubbing of rivals Ireland.
It was an attritional battle in the opening exchanges with big hits and errors being traded in abundance, but Mitchell Moses sent over a penalty goal to calm Lebanon’s nerves.
Reece Robinson crossed for the first try of the game just after the midway point in the first-half after great work by Khaled Rajab and Moses, with the latter converting superbly from the touchline for an 8-0 lead.
It got even better for the Cedars moments later when Jacob Kiraz dotted down after slick hands from Rajab and Moses once more.
It was three tries in quick fashion for the Cedars as Brandon Morkos skipped over from a short drop-out after great work by Josh Mansour. Moses was once more on target to make it 20-0 after 32 minutes.
Ireland finally made it onto the scoresheet with three minutes to go until half-time when Louis Senior finished well in the corner following a superb Luke Keary pass.
Things threatened to boil over on numerous occasions and by the break referee Adam Gee had had enough as Ireland’s Robbie Mulhern and Lebanon’s Jalal Bazzaz were sent to the sinbin for a mini-scuffle.
Ireland had to score first in the second-half to inspire a remarkable comeback, and they did just through that as Louis Senior got his second off a brilliant Joe Keyes pass. Chamberlain’s brilliant conversion brought the Wolfhounds back to 20-10.
The Cedars were determined not to let the Irish back into the game though and Elie El-Zakhem was on hand to finish off a superb last-tackle play in the 55th minute with Moses pulling the strings. Moses’ conversion made it 26-10.
Abbas Miski made it two tries in two minutes when he forced his way over in the corner, but Moses missed his first conversion of the afternoon.
And, Lebanon believed they had scored again moments later as Khalil Rahme dotted down from a kick, but the forward was brought back for offside as the scores remained 30-10.
Ireland, however, were down to 12 men again by the 69th minute, referee Adam Gee sinbinning Liam Byrne for a late tackle on Moses. The Parramatta Eels halfback added two more points from the resulting penalty to make it 32-10.
The Wolfhounds did manage to have the last word when Chamberlain cantered over from a scrum, but the Leigh Centurions centre missed the conversion as Lebanon secured a 32-14 victory.
Lebanon
Jacob Kiraz, Josh Mansour, Brandon Morkos, Reece Robinson, Abbas Miski, Khaled Rajab, Mitchell Moses, Kayne Kalache, Andrew Kazzi, Khalil Rahme, Elie El-Zakhem, Charbel Tasipale, James Roumanos. Subs (all used): Jalal Bazzaz, Anthony Layoun, Bilaal Maarbani, Jaxsen Rahme
Tries: Robinson, Kiraz, Morkos, El-Zakhem, Miski
Goals: Moses 6/7
Ireland
Richie Myler, Louis Senior, Ed Chamberlain, Toby King, Innes Senior, Luke Keary, Joe Keyes, Liam Byrne, Brendan O’Hagan, Jaimin Jolliffe, James Bentley, Frankie Halton, George King (C). Subs (all used): Josh Cook, Harry Rushton, Robbie Mulhern, James Hasson
Tries: L Senior 2, Chamberlain
Goals: Chamberlain 1/3
Half-time: 20-4
Referee: Adam Gee
Scoring sequence: 2-0, 8-0, 14-0, 20-0, 20-4; 20-10, 26-10, 30-10, 32-10, 32-14
Venue: Leigh Sports Village
