Adrian Lam suggests Leigh Leopards should have beaten Catalans

Yesterday a resurgent Leigh Leopards side didn’t quite have enough to beat Catalans Dragons away from home.

It was a tough battle and Leigh were unlucky to lose and that was the view of Adrian Lam who suggested after the game on the Leopards’ Facebook page that he felt the Leopards should have won the game with the chances they had.

“Very frustrated really, I thought we had ourselves in positions to win the game,” Lam said.

“Like last week, mistakes were crucial from us to take the pressure off the Catalans side.

“I am frustrated with that but I can’t question the effort and energy we had today.

“There were times we defended three or four times and kept them out. We worked really hard and had ourselves in positions where we could win the game and let them off the hook.

“That is an area we can improve. As long as we keep putting in that energy.

“There were signs that we improved from the week before.

“They are frustrated and angry. They put in a lot of energy and to be so close, they’re frustrated. It’s not ideal for us.

“Let’s make sure we stick together and improve next week.”

The Leigh Leopards, away from home, hung in their in the opening exchanges against the Catalans Dragons as they mounted the pressure in the opening stages however they nearly scored the opening try of the game.

Charnley burst down the right edge but good scramble defence from the Dragons denied the former Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves winger.

Both sides would have good looks at the opposition defence during the rest of the first 30 minutes but neither could break the deadlock so it was down to a penalty for a high shot which Arthur Mourgue converted.

As halftime neared, finally the first try came as Tom Johnstone went over in at the corner to help give the Dragons an 8-0 lead at the break.

Leigh did have a chance before halftime but a knock on from a Ricky Leutele offload denied them.

The Leopards had shown good character to really stick in the game and had demonstrated enough endeavour to have the Dragons worried and three minutes into the second half a Lachlan Lam kick was grounded by Joe Wardle after an error from the Dragons to make it a tight contest once again.

The Dragons would then look to stamp their authority back on the game and had a decent chance shortly after the try and shortly after the hour mark thought they’d scored with a drive close to the Leigh line but the referee deemed that the ball was held up.

Pressure continued to mount from the home side as they forced a goal line drop out that could have been worse for Leigh had Josh Charnley not forced the ball out of play.

That was a crucial moment as from the next set the French side got a set restart and as the ruck quickened the Dragons found their way over through Mickael Goudemand re-establishing their eight point lead.

Leigh needed a try and a Lam break looked like it might lead to one but Matty Davis was denied. Another chance came shortly after as Leigh found the numbers but Tom Briscoe put down the pass.

That would seal the Leopards’ defeat 14-6.