BAHRAIN Rugby Football Club’s (RFC) first XV will on Friday contest the Rugby West Asia Cup final against league champions Abu Dhabi Harlequins after a dramatic 22-23 victory over Doha in Doha in Friday’s semi-final.
Bahrain upset the form book and the final league standings – Doha finished seven points ahead of their opponents in second place – with a second win of the season in the Qatari capital but it wasn’t without drama as the hosts missed a kickable penalty with the last play of the game.
In a pulsating encounter, an inspired second-half performance from Bahrain proved decisive, after Doha had dominated for long periods.
Playing with the aid of the breeze in the first-half, Bahrain opened the scoring thanks to a superb finish from winger Greg Heath but Doha responded almost immediately with a try of their own.
With the visitors failing to take full advantage of the wind at their backs, they allowed Doha the opportunity to build up a head of steam and they struck again within a couple of minutes, despite an apparent obstruction in the act of scoring.
Territorial
Bahrain had to work hard for any territorial gain but they drew level 10-10 when Heath crossed for his second after some good work down the right hand side.
The mood in the away camp at half-time was far from happy however, as they conceded something of a soft try on the stroke of the break and went in 17-10 down.
To their credit, they came out firing in the second-half and were rewarded with a try from skipper Adam Wallace, which was converted by Luke Radley.
Yet again however, Doha went straight down the other end and retook the lead from a blocked clearance kick.
Bahrain pounded away at the Doha line thereafter but the home defence was immense and eventually they opted to shoot for three points through a penalty by Radley.
A second penalty shortly after gave the visitors a highly unlikely lead and, to the euphoria of the traveling fans, they held out to the end, as Doha missed two late penalty chances in the absence of the regular kicker.
Bahrain will now travel to Abu Dhabi on Friday in search of their first senior trophy for seven years against Harlequins, who saw off Jebel Ali Dragons by 23-14 in Friday’s second semi-final.
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