North Wales Crusaders remained top of Betfred League One as they saw off play-off chasing Rochdale Hornets by 32 points to 12 at Stadiwm CSM.
On paper, little separated the two sides, however, it was a near perfect first-half display from Carl Forster’s North Wales side which took the game away from the Hornets by the interval, leaving the visitors with a mountain to climb in the second period.
Crusaders had an opportunity to open the scoring just three minutes into the game as Jack Houghton broke the line and looked to be dancing his way over only to be stopped agonisingly short of the whitewash by the Rochdale defence.
However, it didn’t take long for Forster’s side to break through as with seven minutes on the clock a neat grubber kick from Jordy Gibson was pounced on by Sam Wilde to give his side the lead.
On the back of a penalty awarded for a high-tackle, the hosts doubled their advantage with Gibson this time setting up himself as a kick through caused issues for the Hornets’ defence and he grounded the ball to score.
The tries kept on coming for North Wales as moment later Ollie Brookes ran onto a flat pass before using his pace to show a clean pair of heels to the Rochdale defence and bring the score to 18-0 inside 16 minutes played.
The Hornets looked to have opened their account for the afternoon just shy of the 20 minute mark, but after the effort was ruled out for a forward pass in the build up, Crusaders seized the opportunity to add insult to injury as Pat Ah Van found Wilde on the short side of the ruck and Brookes finished the move for his second.
Following a period of Rochdale pressure, North Wales sealed an almost perfect first-half display as Wilde completed his brace stepping the Rochdale defence before diving over the line and securing a 26-0 half-time lead for his side.
The second half saw Rochdale up the intensity as a feisty affair ensued with big hits being made by both sides.
With little under 10 minutes of the second-half played, the home side extended their lead to 32 points as Brookes completed his hat-trick in fine style receiving a looping pass from Gibson and racing in to score.
Whilst Rochdale continued to push, their efforts were eventually rewarded as they made use of good field position following a penalty allowing Jordan Andrade to score.
Despite some big efforts in defence from Crusaders, they couldn’t quite hold Rochdale from scoring again as the visitors doubled their points tally as the final hooter sounded with Pat Moran crossing the line.
In spite of the late effort, Forster’s side secured another huge two points in the Betfred League One title race at Stadiwm CSM where second placed Midlands Hurricanes shall visit on Sunday 15th June.