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Leigh coach Adrian Lam hailed his side’s achievement after opening the Betfred Super League season with a stunning 1-0 golden-point win over champions Wigan.
Gareth O’Brien landed a long-range drop goal in the first period of extra time as the Leopards shocked their neighbours at the Brick Community Stadium after the first scoreless draw in the competition’s history.
It was also the first time Leigh had beaten the Warriors since their promotion back to the top flight in 2022 and their first victory at Wigan for 42 years.
“It’s a nice feeling, a great achievement,” said Lam. “I’ll take the one point to get the two.
“It was a great game to watch, quite physical. It had a ‘finals’ feel to it.
“I’m not a great supporter of golden point, though. I think if both teams play like that you deserve a point.”
While the game was short of drama – O’Brien’s decisive last-gasp moment aside – it was not on light on quality, particularly of the defensive kind.
Lam, having included five new signings in his matchday squad, was also pleased with how his side came together after losing a raft of players in the close season.
He said: “It takes time to bring them together, so I wanted some indication they would turn up for each other. There was plenty of that.
“It’s nice to win but if the scoreline had been the other way I would have been just as happy with that.”
Opposite number Matt Peet had no complaints about the result and was pleased enough with the performance of his side.
Peet said: “The highlight reel won’t be very long but it was a good game. There was so much talent on the field, to cancel each other out like that takes a lot of effort.
“It is tough to lose but it was high-quality, very intense. Both teams played to a really high level.
“There will be things we could have done better but, as far as effort, energy and the physicality of the group, I was quite proud.
“But Leigh were worthy winners. Credit to Lammy, they were awesome.”
