Anthony Allen runs towards the end zone for his game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter on Sunday.

It isn't how you win, but that you win. That's the story of the Saskatchewan Roughriders season so far and it was on display again on Sunday.

The Riders overcame some miscues to make the plays when they needed them, including Anthony Allen's 15-yard game-winning touchdown run in the final minute, to pull out a 35-30 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Labour Day Classic at Mosaic Stadium.

Saskatchewan has now won six straight games to improve to 7-2 and they've also extended their winning streak in the Labour Day Classic into a decade with their tenth straight win over Winnipeg in the annual game.

“The key was holding steady,” said head coach Corey Chamblin after the game. “We started pretty hot then weathered their storm and then we stayed together and played to the end.”

The defence has been carrying the Riders throughout their winning streak, but this win goes to the offence as they scored some big touchdowns late in the game to pull out the win.

“The defence has been doing a great job for us all season,” said quarterback Darian Durant. “I'm just glad we could come out, get some drives together, get some touchdowns on the board and still not turn the ball over.”

Durant finished the game 14-of-26 for 204 yards and a touchdown, while also adding 28 yards on the ground.

The game featured a number of moments when the other side appeared to finally take control, only to lose it moments later. The final momentum swing came late in the fourth quarter when Allen finished off a drive that saw the Riders wear down the clock and the Bombers defence before punching it in from 15 yards out.

“It felt great to finally get in the end zone man and win one for the team,” said Allen, who finished with seven carries for 38 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

The Riders continue to employ a three headed running attack that has been a major part of their current six-game winning streak. As a team, they rushed for 160 yards in the win, but no player had more than seven carries.

Jerome Messam was the Riders' top rusher with 64 yards on six carries. He also added two catches for 35 yards.

“It's running back by committee right now, we've got a shortage of numbers in the fullback position – Scotty (McHenry) and (Spencer Moore) are down – so I'm playing both and it's going well right now,” said Messam, who has now picked up 190 of his 258 rushing yards this year against Winnipeg.

The game was back-and-forth throughout. Winnipeg started the game strong with Nic Grigsby opening the scoring on a six-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter.

The Riders answered with Will Ford scoring a five-yard touchdown and Chris Milo hitting a 17-yard field goal in the second quarter.  That coupled with a pair of safeties put Saskatchewan in front 14-7 at half. They extended that to 21-7 with a short touchdown from Allen that followed up a forced fumble from Ricky Foley.

Winnipeg mounted their comeback right away however, scoring two touchdowns in 1:32 as Drew Willy ran in from 11 yards and Troy Stoudermire returned Josh Bartel's punt 64 yards for a touchdown – the third special teams touchdown given up by the Riders in the past three weeks.

The Bombers held that lead until midway through the fourth quarter when Taj Smith made up for multiple drops by hauling in a 59-yard touchdown pass from Durant to put the Riders back in front 28-27. A 41-yard field goal by Lirim Hajrullahu put Winnipeg back in front with 3:14 to play.

Saskatchewan proceeded to run the ball seven times on a 11-play drive that ended with Allen's game-winning touchdown.

“We just wanted to win it off Milo's leg, that was what we talked about and then they just happened to break through on one of those running plays,” said Chamblin.

In his first game back, Weston Dressler had three catches for 28 yards. Durant just missed a wide-open Dressler in the fourth quarter.  Smith led the team with 78 yards receiving and Rob Bagg had a team-high five catches for 58 yards.

The Bombers did a nice job of shutting down John Chick as he was held without a tackle or a sack for the first time this season. Ricky Foley picked up the slack with three defensive tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and fumble recovery.

“That's what makes us special, that's what makes us champions, whenever we need somebody on some unit to make a play, somebody steps up and makes a play,” said Foley. “I'm just proud of my boys.

Tyron Brackenridge led the team with seven defensive tackles and a forced fumble. Brian Peters was all over the field throughout the game and he finished with five defensive tackles and three special teams tackles.

Game Notes

-- Moose Jaw's Levi Steinhauer left the game late with an undisclosed injury, he went down on a Troy Stoudamire kickoff return in the fourth quarter.

-- With his sixth win, Darian Durant surpassed Ron Lancaster for the most Labour Day Classic wins with the Riders. “Anytime you can pass Ronny in anything it's a huge accomplishment,” said Durant after the game. “I'm just honoured to be here that long.”

-- The Riders are now 33-17 all-time in the Labour Day Classic and are currently on an all-time high winning streak in the series.

-- These two teams meet again in a week for the Banjo Bowl at Investors Group Field.