Lirim Hajrullahu drilled the game winning field goal – in a matchup that ultimately deserved overtime – securing a 16-14 Toronto Argonauts win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, in CFL action on Saturday night at BMO Field.

This came after the Argonauts (4-3) survived a questionable 3rd and short decision, with 57 seconds remaining in the game on the Argos 22 yard line.

Blue Bombers (2-6) head coach Michael O’Shea opted to go for a quarterback option on 3rd and one, instead of kicking three to take the 16-13 lead late.

The Boatmen’s defence came up big with a game saving stop, again bailing out the offence, as they were in the midst of a game without a red zone snap, mustering just 124 passing yards.

“Awful, it was a tough day,” said Argo’s head coach Ryan Dinwiddie, asked about his offence. “Continuing to make the same mistakes on the simple stuff, we had two plays where the receivers ran the wrong route and the quarterback was sitting there holding the ball.”

Just 87 of those yards came from Nick Arbuckle, who replaced Cameron Dukes at the controls after the first quarter, but was unable to create any real momentum.

“Cam’s playing good football, I probably pulled the cord a bit early on him tonight, but I just wanted to (start fast),” said Dinwiddie, who picked up his 40th career victory. “We didn’t again and it’s been about five weeks of this stuff in the first half.”

“We have to find a way to be consistent.”

Aside from the passing game, Ka’Deem Carey, second in the league in total rushing, also failed to gain much traction with just 62 yards on 10 carries. Opposite Carey was the man atop the CFL, Brady Oliveira, who produced a useful 96 yards and 13 attempts.

A slow evening for Winnipeg began with Oliveira breaking away for a sizable gain, only to have the ball knocked free by Fraser Sopik, the first of their four fumbles on the night.

Blue Bombers veteran pivot Zach Collaros found some success in the air, but was suffocated in the red zone by the Argonauts defence. He finished with 317 yards, throwing one touchdown and one interceptions.

The fourth quarter rolled around still deadlocked at 6-6, but Argo defensive-back Tarvarus McFadden picked off Collaros on a pass broken up by DaShaun Amos intended for receiver Nic Demski, taking it home and putting the Argos ahead 13-6.

“When you’re on the field, we don’t look at it as the offence is struggling, we’re trying to play the next (down) and get our offence the best field position as possible,” said McFadden, after recording his first pick six since the rebooted 2021 XFL season.

The next possession the Blue Bombers looked to be moving the ball up field when Collaros went back to Demski for a 30 yard gain, but he could not hang on as it turned into their fourth fumble of the game.

Ontaria Wilson corrected his teammates blunder minutes later, on a similar play, finding pay dirt for a 55-yard yard catch-and-run to tie the game at 13. It was a real first crack in the defensive effort that had been keeping the Argos in the game for so long.

Blue Bombers kicker Sergio Castillo missed his second field goal of the game to open overtime from 41 yards out, again bringing into question passing the 30 yard attempt late in the game.

Needing just three points to seal the unimaginable, Toronto was able to set up Hajrullahu with a 34 yard game winner that he pumped down the centre for his third of the game, closing out a frustrating night at BMO Field.

“Just treating every kick like it’s one foot one,” said Hajrullahu after the game. “Every kick we try and keep it the same, whether it’s practice or a game … I start my pregame like four or five hours beforehand, so in my mind, I’ve made that kick at least a dozen times.”

NOTES: O’Shea came into the night leading the league in successful challenges but lost two in Saturday’s loss … The fumble recovery from Royce Metchie in the first quarter was just the second loose ball the Argo’s have picked up all season… The Boatmen entered the matchup leading the league in points per game at 29.7, but were just able to muster six points in the first half … Argo QB Chad Kelly has three weeks remaining on his nine game suspension for violating the league’s gender-based violence policy … Prior to the game there was a ceremony to honour Argonauts legend, Peter Martin, who passed away last Friday at the age of 83. Toronto will head to Calgary to take on the Stampeders next Saturday, while Winnipeg heads back home to host the BC Lions on Thursday.