Sheffield Eagles produced one of the surprises of the century by beating the much fancied Wigan team and lifting the 1998 Rugby League Challenge Cup. Not since Widnes upset the odds by turning over St Helens in 1930, has a team rated by both the pundits and bookmakers as rank outsiders, gone on to beat the red-hot favourites.

Perhaps the writing was on the wall as early as the fifth minute, when Sheffield took a lead they were never going to surrender. They worked the ball down the left flank and then Mark Aston suddenly changed the direction of attack on the last tackle. He placed a high kick into the right corner, with pin-point accuracy. It was aimed just over the shoulder of Jason Robinson, who had no chance of jumping for the ball and this allowed Nick Pinkney to collect and fall down for the first try.

Wigan could just not convert their opportunities into points. Despite exerting plenty of pressure, a combination of great defence from the Eagles and several mistakes from the Warriors, meant that the score remained at 4 - 0 until the 28th minute. Then, a huge mistake from Wigan near their own line led to the next Sheffield try. Danny Moore got the ball on the changeover, but when he played the ball, Wigan did not have a dummy half. Aston nipped around the ruck from the marker position, picked up the loose ball and it went along the line. Winger Matt Crowther found his opposite number Mark Bell out of position and managed to squeeze in at the corner, despite the attentions of Gary Connolly. Aston converted from the touchline. Andy Farrell put the Warriors on the board with a 33rd minute penalty, but Aston added a field goal in the dying seconds of the first half, to leave the Eagles 11 - 2 up at the interval.

The Eagles had employed a simple game plan with their huge forwards, notably Paul Broadbent and Dale Laughton, taking the ball down the middle and Mark Aston kicking for Bell's touch on the last tackle. This, combined with a monumental defensive effort, especially from the three back row forwards, had Sheffield deservedly in front. However, nine points in a Cup Final is far from a winning margin and with the undoubted talent in the Wigan side, surely they would start to click in the second half.

The Warriors' backs were really against the wall, when Eagles' substitute Darren Turner scored their third try on 52 minutes. Despite the attentions of three Wigan defenders, Turner tried a dummy-half sneak and just managed to reach out with his right hand and place the ball on the line, right between the posts. Aston converted to give Sheffield a 17 - 2 advantage.

If Wigan were going to turn this game around, then they would have had to create their own piece of Challenge Cup history. No team has ever come back from a fifteen point deficit to win a Cup Final. They gave themselves a chance with a try on 58 minutes, from Mark Bell. A knock-on by Keith Senior on his own 20 metre line, gave the Warriors good field position and they eventually managed to find a way through the Eagles' defensive line, as Lee Gilmour drew two defenders, to allow Bell to cross on the overlap. Farrell kicked the touchline conversion to take the score to 17 - 8, with twenty minutes left to play.

Wigan really stepped up a gear at this point and spent the next ten minutes camped out in the Eagles' defensive zone. Sheffield were up to the task, although Wigan again made plenty of mistakes. Connolly knocked-on with an open run to the line and then Farrell was held up over the line and conceded the ball from the resultant scrum, by being penalised for arguing with the referee. When Kris Radlinski knocked-on with the line at his mercy, the Warriors' faithful surely knew that this wasn't going to be their day. Sheffield weathered the storm and went close to scoring a fourth try on 78 minutes, but the referee ruled that Paul Carr was tackled over the line, without grounding the ball.

The Lance Todd Trophy was awarded to Sheffield scrum half Mark Aston, who was superb in organising his team and directing them around the field, but the foundations for this famous victory were laid in the Eagles forward pack. They out-tackled, out-ran and generally out-played the Wigan six.

Sheffield fully deserved this victory and they become the twenty fifth club in the 102 years history of this most famous competition, to have their name inscribed on the Challenge Cup Trophy. They will certainly being dancing in the streets of Sheffield tonight.