Catalans 14-6 Leigh: Adrian Lam believes his side “deserved to win” 

Leigh head coach Adrian Lam believes his side did enough to deserve to win following their 14-6 defeat to Catalans in Perpignan.

The Leopards trailed 8-0 at the break with Tom Johnstone scoring for the home side, with Arthur Mourgue landing a penalty on the half hour mark for the game’s first points.

Lam’s side hit back in the second half through Joe Wardle, but it wasn’t enough as Mickael Goudemand sealed the victory to see Catalans go two from two. 

Zak Hardaker moved into the centres for the round two fixture, with Gareth O’Brien named at full-back. Having missed the opening defeat to Salford, Ben Reynolds returned and was named in the halves alongside Lachlan Lam.

Edwin Ipape dropped out, with Aaron Smith returning to action at starting hooker.

Adrian Lam reacts to Catalans defeat

“I’m very proud of the team, but I’m very frustrated too because we got ourselves in positions there where we could have won,” said Lam.

“We lacked a bit of game management and that hurt us, but we’re close and, while I thought we deserved to win tonight, we didn’t but that’s part of the growth within our group.

“We’ve just got to look after ourselves and stay within the bubble. We had eight players making their debut last week, so we’re going to be a bit rusty for the first part of the season.

“It’s hard to see if there is any success there in front of us when we’re emotionally caught up in the now and the moment of loss, but we’re working hard to turn the corner soon and we’ve just got to stick together.”

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