Dragons too hot for Crusaders
Catalans Dragons kept themselves in the hunt for a play-off berth with a 34-0 demolition of bottom club Celtic Crusaders in Perpignan.
Last Updated: 04/08/09 5:00pm
Catalans Dragons kept themselves in the hunt for a play-off berth with a 34-0 demolition of bottom club Celtic Crusaders in Perpignan.
Seven different players scored tries for the French side and the result was rarely in doubt from the moment Dimitri Pelo claimed the first score after 10 minutes.
Casey McGuire, Clint Greenshields, Greg Bird and Kane Bentley followed Pelo over to make it 26-0 at the break, while Jason Croker and Steven Bell touched down for the hosts in the second half.
The hosts were quickly into their stride as Pelo found his way to the line and McGuire added a second try six minutes later.
Peter Lupton - playing his last game before season-ending knee surgery - was stopped just short as the Crusaders tried to respond, but Catalans virtually made the game safe with three tries in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
Greenshields went over under the posts, captain Bird claimed another soon after the kick-off and Bentley touched down just before the hooter.
Authority
The Dragons further stamped their authority on the game 11 minutes after the restart as Croker ran through on the overlap for a try in the corner.
Jean-Philippe Baile should have added another but knocked on attempting to touch down.
Try-saving tackles by Steve Tyrer and Mark Lennon managed to limit further damage, but Bell ran over from a scrum with four minutes remaining to complete the rout.
Thomas Bosc converted three of the seven scores as the Crusaders slumped to a 20th league defeat of the season.
