The Catalan Dragons led Leigh 8-0 at half-time via an Arthur Mourgue penalty and a strive from Tom Johnstone, earlier than Mickael Goudemand helped seal the second-half Tremendous League victory for the French crew.
Final replace: 02/25/23 8:14 p.m.
Leigh’s Joe Wardle is tackled by Catalans Cesar Rouge and Matthieu Laguerre (Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com)
Leigh scared the Catalans Dragons earlier than struggling a 14-6 defeat at Perpignan.
The newly promoted Leopards fought bravely however a second-half strive from Dragons’ Mickael Goudemand handed the guests their second lack of the season at a chilly, grey Gilbert Brutus Stadium.
Leigh took full benefit of their modest 8-0 half-time deficit and practically upset the chances with a mercurial efficiency from Lachlan Lam within the scrum-half, however merely did not have sufficient high quality to deliver the factors again. at house.
The Catalans misplaced second line Matt Whitley and heart Adam Keighran earlier than kick-off and had been already with out the injured Mitchell Pearce, Mike McMeeken and Tyrone Might, however had sufficient reserves to take care of Leigh’s spirited efficiency .
Sam Tomkins returned to motion at scrum-half alongside younger French worldwide Cesar Rouge however the Leopards, who misplaced influential hooker Edwin Ipape earlier than the sport to an ankle harm, held on.
The sport was scoreless till Tomkins understudy at full-back Arthur Mourgue picked up a penalty within the thirtieth minute.
5 minutes later, Tom Johnstone latched onto a sweeping left-wing transfer to attain the sport’s first strive, with Mourgue kicking from the touchline to place the Catalans forward 8-0 at halftime. -time.
Leigh fought again early within the second half when Lam wreaked havoc on the Catalans’ protection with a line kick, which was mopped up by second rower Joe Wardle and grounded.
Ben Reynolds added the conversion to place the guests inside two factors.
And the Leopards held the Dragons for lengthy stretches till Goudemand cut up their protection with a robust 10-yard flurry to attain within the 66th minute, Mourgue’s conversion making it 14-6.
Leigh nonetheless did not fall again and stood agency because the Catalans peppered their line with a sequence of penalties and prolonged possession late within the recreation.
what they stated
Leigh’s coach, Adrian Lam…
“I am very pleased with the crew, however I am additionally very pissed off as a result of we positioned ourselves the place we may have gained.
“We lacked a little bit of recreation administration and that damage us, however we’re shut and, though I believed we deserved to win tonight, we did not, however that is a part of rising. inside our group.
“We simply need to deal with ourselves and keep within the bubble. We had eight gamers making their debuts final week, so we’ll be a bit rusty for the primary a part of the season.
“It is exhausting to see if there’s success forward of us once we’re emotionally caught up within the current second and the second of loss, however we’re working exhausting to show the nook quickly and we simply have to stay collectively.”
Catalan coach Steve McNamara…
“We had the worst week in our historical past with illness and infections brought on by accidents sustained in our first recreation at Wakefield.
“We misplaced a lot of gamers so to do this tonight towards a very good Leigh facet was wonderful.
“I am very proud of this consequence, we had a really tough week. We misplaced Manu Ma’u as his father sadly handed away and he moved again to New Zealand to be along with his household.
“Seven gamers had infections this week following accidents sustained on the pitch at Wakefield within the first spherical. We had numerous diseases and this morning Matt Whitley suffered a shoulder harm and Adam Keighran needed to relaxation. to withdraw.
“So with the present state of affairs, it is an excellent win for us. Our protection was good right now, however our assault was horrible, however in our present state, I can not complain.
“It has been the hardest week for this membership in a very long time and I am pleased with how the gamers reacted.”
And after?
Catalans return to house motion towards Hull FC on Friday 3 March, whereas Leigh are on the street towards Hull KR.
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