Catalans Dragons moved within two points of the engage Super League play-off places with a convincing seven-try 34-0 win over Celtic Crusaders.

Seven different players scored tries for the French side and the result was rarely in doubt from the moment Dimitri Pelo claimed the first of them after 10 minutes in Perpignan.

Casey McGuire, Clint Greenshields, Greg Bird and Kane Bentley followed him over to make it 26-0 at the break while Jason Croker and Steven Bell touched down in the second half.

Thomas Bosc was able to add only three conversions but the Crusaders were overpowered as they went down to a 23rd league defeat of the season.

The Crusaders, already without a host of players through injury, suffered a further blow before kick-off as Chris Beasley failed a fitness test.

Peter Lupton, after playing in pain for six weeks, also revealed beforehand that the game would be his last before season-ending knee surgery.

The hosts were soon into their stride as Pelo found his way to the line and McGuire added a second try six minutes later.

Lupton 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.

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.