North Wales Crusaders’ League One title fight will go down to their final three games as the Colwyn Bay outfit passed on an opportunity to move one step closer to silverware with a 20-16 defeat in Rochdale.
The Hornets dominated play for the majority of the first-half where despite the best efforts of the Crusaders’ defence, the home side made use of repeat sets to build an early lead.
Carl Forster’s side threw everything into a comeback, however, it proved too little too late for the visitors who suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time in 2025.
North Wales arrived in Rochdale looking to avenge last week’s loss to Swinton Lions and get their title charge back on track.
However, it was the hosts who came out firing as quick play and repeat sets allowed good field position for the Hornets to open the scoring with just ten minutes played.
Crusaders continued to invite pressure as their defensive efforts were tested as Rochdale made the most of errors and penalties conceded by Forster’s side.
Despite North Wales’ best efforts, the pressure eventually paid off as League One’s top try scorer, Luke Forbes, doubled Hornets’ lead, gathering a looping pass to the wing to score.
Crusaders eventually hit back as their first attacking set inside the Rochdale half paid dividends with Sam Wilde dancing through the defence to open the visitor’s account.
A let off followed as Rochdale opted to kick a penalty deep inside the Crusaders’ half only for the ball to strike the post, allowing the scoreline to remain 10-4 in favour of the home side in spite of their pressure.
The second-half looked to be taking a familiar pattern as just two minutes in from the re-start, Rochdale restored their ten point lead as Forber stepped back inside to cross for his second of the afternoon.
With just under 60 minutes gone, Hornets were in once again as Crusaders failed to deal with a last tackle play which gave the hosts space to score, giving them a 20-4 lead.
Crusaders, reacting to the latest setback, began to find form and work their way back into the game.
Whilst play out to the wings saw several chances go begging, Jake Spedding managed to convert an opportunity with 15 minutes to go as he took a well timed pass and walked through to Rochdale defence.
As the game heated up, both sides saw themselves depleted on several occasions with the final ten minutes becoming a stop-start affair.
With Crusaders working their way back into the game, Josh Eaves gave the visitors faint hope as he wriggled his way through to score with just two minutes remaining.
However, it proved to be too much to ask of North Wales, and despite throwing everything at Rochdale in the closing moments, the home side held out for a 20-14 victory which sees the title party put on hold at least until the 24th August when Crusaders welcome Goole Vikings to Colwyn Bay.