Chester Gladiators lifted their first major piece of silverware with a 38-16 defeat of Garswood Stags in the final of the North West Men's League Shield on Saturday.

Gladiators outscored the Stags seven tries to three in a thrilling game at Thatto Heath in St Helens, starting and finishing the game with a flourish to secure the trophy.

Gladiators chairman Jim Green said: "It's a fantastic achievement from our senior squad to lift the NWML Shield and a real milestone for the club.

"Hopefully we can now go on and achieve further success in the league and play-offs, and to be competing on two fronts as well as we have is testament to the depth of talent at the club.

"What's particularly pleasing for us is that a good chunk of the squad are under 20 which bodes extremely well for the future and illustrates the importance of developing our own player, one of the reasons we have put a real focus on junior development."

Chester took the lead when the ball was shifted to the left and fullback Aled Davies, who collected the man of the match honours, put Jonny Rae in at the corner. Davies was unable to add the extras.

Ben Stelmaszek increased the advantage when he took a short pass from Billy Brickhill and squeezed between defenders to touch down next to the posts with Davies converting for a 10-0 lead.

Watch: Highlights from Saturday's final

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However, Garswood have given Gladiators two tough league games this season and responded well, exploiting a gap in the defence to score an unconverted try and then crossing on the left to level the scores at 10-10.

Chester regrouped and regained the advantage when Stelmaszek held off a couple of tackles and put teenage forward Tom Woods into space and he dummied before going over to give his team a four-point cushion.

Gladiators then went 18-10 ahead with a brilliant move to the right involving Mark Kingsley, Joel Gibbs and Stelmaszek before Davies finished well in the corner at the end of the first-half.

Davies posted the first points of the second period with a penalty but it was Garswood who got the next try, finding an overlap out wide to close to within six points.

The next score would be crucial and it went to Chester when the Stags dropped a ball in midfield and Stelmaszek scooped it up and raced clear to score under the post with Davies adding the two points for a 26-16 lead.

Davies kept the scoreboard ticking over with a penalty and the lead stretched to 18 points when captain Kingsley offloaded to prop Kelum Friday who popped the ball to Tom Roberts and he dived over the line to touch down.

Chester completed the scoring in the final moments of the game when Kingsley kicked to the right and winger Mike Walker collected and reached out to ground the ball, sealing a memorable win.

Chester's attention now turns back to the league with the Division Four leaders travelling to title rivals Rochdale Cobras on Saturday.