Old Mission Beach Team Wins Classic : Rugby: San Diego squad wins its third national rugby club title in four years, 12-9.

What many expected to be a blow out in favor of the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club turned out to be a classic championship game in the Steinlager/USA Rugby National Club final Sunday.

OMBAC, scoring on a penalty kick with less than 30 seconds left, defeated the Washington (D.C.) Rugby Club, 12-9, in front of nearly 2,000 at Ocean Beach’s Robb Field and capture its third title in the past four years.

OMBAC trampled the Dallas Harlequins, 21-15, and Washington needed overtime to beat the Chicago Lions, 21-17, in Saturday’s semifinals. On paper, OMBAC appeared to be a prohibitive favorite, considering Dallas bombed the Washington team, 33-0, a few weeks ago.

But OMBAC needed a near-miracle finish to win Sunday, after trailing late in the second half, 9-3.

That’s what it got.

Fly half Steve Forster, moments after he converted a 15-yard penalty kick to tie the game, drilled a 17-yarder from the left hash mark. Before the two teams could line up to continue play, time expired.

As referee Mark Binning blew the final whistle, fans and players from other teams poured onto the playing field and began jeering Binning for his late penalty call. Washington players, who were visibly upset, berated the official.

But that didn’t make the victory any less satisfying for OMBAC and Forster, who was playing his third game since undergoing major reconstructive knee surgery on his left/kicking leg last July. Forster, who in 1987 led San Diego State to the National Collegiate title by scoring every point in a 10-9 victory over Air Force in the final, turned the rare start into memorable repeat performance.

Forster replaced Jason McVeigh, who made just three of nine point-producing kicks in the semifinal. He didn’t fare much better (4-for-11) with the tough angles and a strong breeze blowing in from the ocean. He had two kicks bounce off the uprights, and he badly shanked two. But he made the kicks when they counted most.

“I felt lots of pressure and I wasn’t keeping my eye on the ball, probably because I’ve only played three games in the last nine months,” he said. “But I’ve been in this situation before, with San Diego State, when I missed a few and had the chance to win at the end.

“I was surprised I played. I wasn’t sure how much confidence my coach and my captain had in me.”

“Steve’s done it before for us,” said Mike Saunders, team captain and another ex-Aztec. “He seemed to be striking the ball well. He hit a few posts. It was just a matter of time.”

The first half was a battle in the trenches. The ball rarely moved more than three feet in a cloud of dust in any direction. The first points weren’t scored until 25 minutes into the 40 minute first half, when Forster boomed a 45-yard penalty kick against the wind to give OMBAC a 3-0 lead. Washington tied it, 3-3, just before halftime as Paul Sheehy converted a 10-yarder.

In the second half, Sheehy scored a four-point try, streaking 35 yards down the middle of the field off a scrum, and made the extra point to give Washington a 9-3 advantage. That’s when OMBAC began to look frustrated, not handling passes on the scrum and having two apparent tries nullified by Binning.

One came when Sean Allen intercepted a throw-in pass and dragged two tacklers across the try line but failed to control the ball in downing it.

Duncan Limsden also was ruled not in control when he chased down a kick to the try zone. Then Forster had a 30-yard penalty kick that would have tied the game, 9-9, bounce back off the upright. But minutes later he hooked in the 15-yarder and converted the 17-yarder after a penalty call that stunned the Washington players.

“The crowd was very loud and it was tough to see what he called,” Sheehy said of Binning. “I thought we played fantastic. I thought we all played as one. But it seemed like there were five or six penalties in a row for them. And (Binning) is from our union, the Potomac Rugby Union.”