Lebanon 32 Ireland 14
Ireland’s chances of progressing to the World Cup knockout stages were dealt a huge blow as they fell to a 32-14 Group C defeat against Lebanon at Leigh Sports Village.
NRL star Mitchell Moses inspired the Cedars to a convincing win which leaves the two sides locked together on two points in the table.
However, Michael Cheika’s Lebanon will expect to win their final game against tournament debutants Jamaica at this venue next Sunday, meaning Ireland will likely need to overcome world number one side New Zealand in Leeds on Friday to have any chance of going through.
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Lebanon dominated the first half as Ireland struggled to maintain their discipline, with two penalties conceded inside their own 10-metre line in the first five minutes.
The Wolfhounds escaped that spell of pressure without punishment and might have gone ahead against the run of play when Luke Keary’s grubber to the corner after 12 minutes caused a scramble in the corner.
The influential Moses kicked Lebanon into a 2-0 lead from yet another penalty after 16 minutes and — five minutes later full-back — Jacob Kiraz surged deep into Ireland territory before the ball was worked left for Reece Robinson to cross in the corner.
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Half-back Moses then sent Kiraz over and the Cedars grabbed a third try in the space of 10 minutes when Josh Mansour claimed an Ireland drop out 20 metres from the line and picked out Brandon Morkos.
Moses converted all three to make it 20-0 and Ireland were further frustrated when Robbie Mulhern had a try ruled out after the ball broke loose behind the Lebanon line.
Ireland got on the scoreboard three minutes before the break when Keary’s cut-out pass found Louis Senior, who squeezed over in the corner.
Ireland head coach Ged Corcoran had spoken of “bad blood” between the two nations dating back to a fierce draw in Dewsbury in 2007 that saw Ireland qualify for the World Cup.
There was certainly no love lost when a second melee of the match erupted as the half-time whistle sounded, leading to Mulhern and Jalal Bazzaz being sent to the sin bin for the start of the second half.
Ireland desperately needed to make a quick start after the break and Senior provided it when the winger went over for his second score of the afternoon and Ed Chamberlain converted to reduce the deficit to 20-10.
However, Lebanon restored their lead when a wonderful one-handed reverse pass from Parramatta Eels star Moses led to Elie El-Zakhem touching down in the right corner.
Wigan winger Abbas Miski effectively settled the contest with a try shortly before the hour mark and Moses took his tally to double figures with a late penalty before Chamberlain grabbed a consolation score.
