THE CANADIAN PRESS

MONTREAL -- It may have been poetic justice for the Montreal Alouettes that Avon Cobourne ran in the winning touchdown in the final minute to defeat the B.C. Lions.

But the feeling was more of relief than vindication as the error-prone Alouettes blew a lead in a fourth quarter but came back to defeat the Lions 28-24 on Sunday afternoon.

That avenged a 19-12 loss in Vancouver last week in which a last-minute Cobourne TD was nullified when officials wrongly made them re-run the play because they thought the game clock had not been reset. The Alouettes appealed, the CFL admitted the officials goofed, but the B.C. win stayed on the books.

"It really wasn't a revenge thing for me," said Cobourne, after scoring the game-winning TD on a 12-yard run with 50 seconds left to play. "I felt we lost the game last week on plays before that, not on that play.

"I don't know what would have happened at the end of that game anyway. All that matters is this game here and we got the win."

Still, as he crossed the goal-line, Cobourne checked to see if any flags had been thrown.

"I wasn't too sure until I didn't see anything," he said. "(Jamel) Richardson was blocking and then he let go. I thought they might have called something because they almost could have."

The Alouettes looked to be going down to a second straight defeat and a first at home this season when turnovers led to B.C. touchdowns by O'Neil Wilson and Ryan Grice-Mullen before Geroy Simon put the Lions ahead mid-way through the fourth quarter with a 43-yard TD catch.

On their final drive, the Alouettes were second-and-nine on their own 29 when Anthony Calvillo found Kerry Watkins wide open for a 56-yard completion to set up Cobourne's winning run and send a previously grumpy sellout crowd of 20,202 home happy.

"I thought the big thing was making that key play on second down," said B.C. coach Wally Buono. "I think if we could have stopped them there, the game would have been ours."

The loss denied Buono a chance to become the winningest coach in CFL history. He remains tied with Don Matthews, both having 231 career victories. His next chance to get it is Saturday when the Lions play host to the Toronto Argonauts

"You have to give Montreal credit," he said. "They got over their appeal, they played hard and it was a back-and-forth game.

"I guess the thing you regret is that we didn't do more, especially in the first quarter."

Montreal improved to 8-2 while B.C. dropped to 4-6. Despite the record, the Lions who started the season 1-4 look to be a much tougher team to play as the second half of the season began.

"You get no solace out of losing," Buono said. "We're 4-6. I know we're a good 4-6 team, but that's not something to be real proud of, right?"

Calvillo and Jamel Richardson also had TDs for Montreal, which looked in control of the game until two mistakes in the second half resulted in 14 points for the Lions.

With B.C. trailing 13-3 in the opening minute of the second half, Aaron Hunt sacked Calvillo and caused a fumble, which was recovered at the 19-yard line by Jeremy Gibbs. On the Lions' next play, Jackson hit O'Neill in the end zone to make it a three-point game.

Montreal marched back in eight plays and Calvillo ran the ball in from the nine-yard line.

The next two Lions possessions ended in turnovers - an interception in his first CFL start by De'Audra Dix and a turnover on downs - but Montreal was not able to make them count.

Then Larry Taylor dropped a punt and B.C.'s Jason Arakgi recovered at the Montreal 17-yard line. Three plays later, Grice-Mullen scored on a one-yard run at 3:37 of the fourth.

On their next possession, Jarious Jackson hit Simon with a 43-yard TD pass to put the Lions in front for the first time at 7:44.

Montreal got a punt single back, then stunned the home crowd with their last-minute comeback.

"This game had nothing to do with vindication or getting our just desserts," said Montreal coach Marc Trestman. "This was a team that got off the plane and worked very hard this week.

"They played hard and we played hard and we were fortunate enough to win."

Calvillo completed 29 passes for 334 yards, and uncharacteristically ran the ball eight times for a team-leading 43 yards, taking a couple of hits that made Trestman wince on the sidelines. His favourite target was Richardson, who caught 11 passes for 103 yards while Watkins had 133 on five catches.

B.C. tailback Martell Mallet, who had a team-record 213 rushing yards last week, was held to 66 on 14 carries. Jackson completed 16 passes for 228 yards, including 128 yards on seven catches by Simon.

The first 23 minutes of play were a succession of dropped passes and other mistakes.

Calvillo went downfield on his first play from scrimmage and was picked off by Dante Marsh. On Montreal's next possession, the offence gave the ball up on downs at the B.C. 50-yard line.

But the Lions also laboured to move the ball. After Rolly Lumbala let a sure touchdown slip through his fingers, Sean Whyte missed a 24-yard field goal try that went off the upright.

Calvillo got his confidence back in the second as he completed five straight passes, capped by a two-yard TD pass to Richardson.

Another march set up Damon Duval's 19-yard boot, but B.C. countered with a drive that produced Whyte's 33-yard field goal. The Alouettes answered with a 25-yard kick on the final play of the half for a 13-3 lead.

NOTES: The number 92 was painted in the east end zone in honour of former star quarterback Sam Etcheverry, who died last week of cancer. A pre-game moment of silence was also held. At halftime, the Alouettes honoured former defensive lineman Glen Weir, who will be inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame later this month. . . It was Montreal's 100th game at Percival Molson Stadium since returning there in 1998 . . . Montreal slotback Ben Cahoon caught a pass in a 119th straight game to tie former Eskimo Craig Ellis for the third-longest streak all-time. Right behind is Simon, who had a reception in a 116th straight game. . . The 20-second clock did not work, so plays were timed by an on-field official.