NORTH WALES CRUSADERS’ hopes of reaching the League One play-offs are over.

Needing a victory at Rochdale Hornets to maintain their push for a top-six finish, Crusaders suffered a 28-10 defeat.

Workington Town’s 46-0 defeat of Newcastle Thunder made sure Crusaders will miss out on a play-off berth.

Ahead of kick-off, Crusaders’ head coach Forster told the club’s X site: “It’s do-or-die for us. We’ve kind of known that all week. We’ve trained the best we can.

“We didn’t get on the field Wednesday just due to numbers, but we had a decent session Friday.

“Kept it short and sharp, really, because we couldn’t afford any injuries, and we come here nothing to lose.

“Rochdale are flying and that’s the attitude we’ve got to have.”

Following a positive start from North Wales, it was Rochdale who took the lead in the ninth minute.

Ben Foster grabbed the opening try and this was converted.

Crusaders were on the scoreboard in the 18th minute.

Matty Unsworth off-loaded for Toby Hughes to go in for an unconverted score and Crusaders trailed by just two points at this stage.

North Wales posed plenty of attacking threat, with Ben Evans going close to a score, while a forward pass to Pat Ah Van saw another opportunity slip by.

Rochdale extended their lead to eight points with six minutes of the first half remaining when Ben Killian claimed a converted try.

It was mainly about the Hornets in the second period, as tries from Gregg McNally (2) and Myles Harrop saw them pull clear.

Kieron Taylor did grab a late try for North Wales, which was converted by Dan Moss.

Champions Oldham thrashed Cornwall 72-0, while Keighley Cougars defeated Hunslet 40-22.