John Dixon's team will have to wait for a Cup final place

Celtic Crusaders' hopes of making it to their first Cup final were ended by Salford City Reds.

Paul White opened the scoring after just four minutes which John Wilshire converted.

Crusaders levelled soon after through Darren Mapp and Mark Dalle Cort then put them in the lead.

But it was uphill after that as Wilshire ran over twice and kicked five more times to help the Reds into next month's final against Doncaster.

With the Crusaders were trailing 18-10 at half-time, they found it difficult to take control of the game.

Luke Dyer and Tony Duggan had early chances in the second half before they were punished by Salford when Richard Myler broke through to ground under the sticks. Duggan did reply for the Crusaders on 71 minutes with Lennon converting to give them hope.

Josh Hannay followed him over straight from kick-off but Lennon missed the kick and the Welsh side were just two points away from extra-time.

However Salford sealed their place in the final with two minutes remaining as White ran through to score under the posts for his second try.

Richard Myler made certain there would be no fight back with an excellent run to score with seconds remaining.

Celtic Crusaders: Tony Duggan, Paul Ballard, Josh Hannay, Mark Dalle Cort, Luke Dyer, Damien Quinn, Mark Lennon, Jordan James, Neil Budworth, Gareth Dean, Chris Beasley, Darren Mapp, Neale Wyatt.
Replacements: Ian Webster, Aaron Summers, Anthony Blackwood, David Tangata-Toa.

Salford City Reds: John Wilshire, Matt Gardner, Stuart Littler, Stephen Bannister, Paul White, Robbie Paul, Richard Myler, Stephen Nash, Malcolm Alker, Craig Stapleton, Adam Sidlow, Luke Adamson, Jordan Turner.
Replacements: Phil Leuluai, Stefan Ratchford, Jason Walton, Paul Highton.

Referee: Gareth Hewer (Whitehaven)