Balamand dominated Jounieh in every department to run out convincing winners in a home opener that would have pleased coach Mohamed Habbous. Led by lock Omar Darwich, Balamand’s pulse in attack all evening, and welcoming back outside back Lubnan Alamuddine, the third highest points scorer in Lebanese rugby league who returned to the side after a year’s hiatus, the Razorbacks were better value than their eight point victory.

Jounieh, who made the score respectable thanks to two Pierre Nasr tries in the final three minutes, were lucky to be down by only 8-0 at the break. A knock-on in their first possession set the tone for the evening as they spilt ball in the collision on countless occasions. Their defence, though, was as strong as it had been against LAU last week, forcing Balamand, who were unable to smash their way through the front door, to employ guile to open the scoring. Having failed to get over the whitewash with ball in hand, Darwich slipped in a delightful kick on the last, with Alamuddine exerting downward pressure to score his first points since November 12 last year.

The home team, cheered on by a noisy crowd, kept Jounieh pinned inside its own territory for the remainder of the half yet could only conjure up one more try, when fullback Riad Khoury went over down the left flank. Jounieh, missing gun halves Danny Chemaly (injured) and Roy Abla (not selected), and Cedar forwards Youssef Helou (injured) and Ghassan Dandash (unavailable), before losing second row Bassel Tabara with a dislocated elbow, were unable to create any fluidity with the ball. Darwich intelligently applied heavy pressure to scrum half Wissam Chami, forcing him out of his comfort zone, while Balamand’s line speed enabled them to more than match Jounieh’s big pack.]

On 55 minutes Balamand scored what might have been the clincher, but for three missed goals that kept the visitors in touching distance. When yet another Jounieh error handed them possession in an excellent attacking position, Balamand’s forwards sucked in their counterparts with three drives before two wide passes found Darwich lurking in the centre channels. The heavy-set lock then embarked on a rumbling, Wally Lewis-esque arcing run to the left corner, finishing it off by barreling over winger Mario Eid to score.

Jounieh then gave themselves a lifeline when Gaby Haddad sliced through to score under the sticks completely against the run of play, with Chami’s conversion halving the deficit. Yet hopes of a come back barely lasted a minute as a penalty for jumping in the tackle handed Balamand the ball immediately after the kick off. This time Gilbert Haydamous was the beneficiary of more good vision and handling, with the international wing just beating the cover to score in the corner to make it 16-6. Hooker Firas El Mir scored Balamand’s fifth try when he scooted in from 20-metres to score the softest of tries before Nasr’s late intervention.