Catalans Dragons won the first major trophy of their brief history as they got the better of Warrington Wolves 20-14 in the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.

In a thrilling 80 minutes, the French side survived a nervous last ten minutes to delight their following and many neutrals in the crowd.

In many ways it was a triumph of sheer desire.

The Dragons were under constant pressure in the latter stages but simply refused to yield as the Wolves threw everything at them.

Catalans got off to a dream start after Warrington fullback Stefan Ratchford spilled a high kick and from the resulting possession ex-Warrington second row Benjamin Jullien put right winger Lewis Tierney in at the corner. Josh Drinkwater’s touchline conversion made it 6-0.

A break up the left by Fouad Yaha put Warrington on the back foot again and a Drinkwater penalty increased the French side’s advantage by two points on seven minutes.

A couple of penalties piggy-backed the Wolves upfield and they had a Tom Lineham try disallowed for obstruction in the build-up and a Tyrone Roberts break came to nothing when he passed the ball forward.

Warrington finally gained some composure and on 28 minutes a bomb from Ratchford was dropped by Yaha under pressure from Toby King and Ben Murdoch-Masila picked up the loose ball to touch down near the posts for a six-pointer which made it 8-6.

Six minutes before the half-time, Catalans hit the Wolves with a sucker punch when Benjamin Garcia sneaked over from dummy-half and Drinkwater’s goal gave the Dragons a 14-6 lead they held to the break.

A Tony Gigot 40/20 kick put Catalans on the front foot early in the second half and quick passing to the left put centre Brayden Wiliame over with Drinkwater oncer more accurate with the extras.

Warrington were given a lifeline when Drinkwater fumbled a Kevin Brown kick and substitute George King was on hand to score an opportunist try with Tyrone Roberts’ conversion making it 20-12 on 56 minutes.

The Wolves missed a glorious chance to score again when Ben Westwood dropped a Kevin Brown pass with the line at his mercy.

On 69 minutes, a Roberts penalty put Warrington back within a converted score at 20-14 with French nerves clearly fraying.

The Wolves dominated possession in the final minutes with Catalans constantly coughing up the ball.

But no matter what Warrington tried, there always seemed to be a Catalans defender on hand to cut them down.

There was raw emotion as the final hooter sounded with the Warrington players despairing amid tears of joy from players and supporters alike in the opposition ranks.

Warrington: Ratchford; Charnley, T King, Goodwin, Lineham; Brown, Roberts; Hill, Clark, Cooper, Hughes, Livett, Westwood. Subs: Patton, Murdoch-Masila, Philbin, G King.

Catalans: Gigot; Tierney, Mead, Wiliame, Yaha; Langi, Drinkwater; Moa, McIlroum, Simon, Garcia, Jullien, Casty. Subs: Goudemand, Bousquet, Edwards, Baitieri.

Half-Time: 6-14

Referee: Mr R Hicks