Warrington Wolves deservedly lifted the Carnegie Challenge Cup for the first time in 35 years as Michael Monaghan inspires them to a 25-16 victory over Huddersfield Giants.

A crowd of over 76,000 at Wembley saw Tony Smith's Lancashire side triumph over a spirited Huddersfield side, outscoring them four tries to two.  Monaghan got his name on the score sheet as well as picking up the coveted Lance Todd trophy as he put in a man of the match performance.  Warrington opened the scoring within the first minute of the game following a try from Richie Mathers and Huddersfield struggled to deal with the Wolves' attacking flair.

Leeds Metropolitan University Chancellor Brendan Foster and Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe MP handed over the historic trophy to the Warrington side as jubilant celebrations ensued.

Earlier, former St Helens, Hull and Wakefield international full back Steve Prescott had delivered the match ball to Wembley following a 700 mile cycle ride across France, a dragon boat trip up the Thames and finally a half marathon to Wembley.  Before the game the crowd were entertained by Leeds Met partners, The Black Dyke Band, and international students from Leeds Met were also involved in the pre-match entertainment.

Links between rugby league and Carnegie go back to 1936 when one of the college's first students, the legendary Eric Harris, scored a famous try when Leeds won the Challenge Cup at Wembley.

The University is also recognised in rugby league for its own performance on the pitch, as British University Champions for the third consecutive year, unbeaten at home for four years, and the first student team to reach the third round of the prestigious knock-out competition, the Carnegie Challenge Cup this year.

As well as the Carnegie Challenge Cup, Leeds Met's six-year partnership with the RFL includes the Carnegie Champion Schools Tournament, the biggest rugby league tournament in the world, involving 25,000 school-girls and boys. Leeds Met is also the primary partner for the Carnegie World Club Challenge and the Carnegie Student Ashes. The RFL's full-time referees and technical staff are based at Leeds Met's Headingley Campus and students can be seen rubbing shoulders with these champions around the campus.