Hereford Rugby Club's Powergen Midlands 2 West fixture at Bedworth was controversially abandoned after only 14 minutes on Saturday and will have to be replayed.

The bad-tempered clash had already seen three players leave the field for medical attention, two from Hereford and one from Bedworth, when the referee halted proceedings.

In the confusion that followed Hereford players understood that the official had stopped the match because of aggressive tactics by their Coventry-based hosts.

But, in his report, the referee said that Hereford had lost two of their listed four front-row forwards and he was not prepared to continue the match with uncontested scrums.

Hereford prop Dave Thomas was the first casualty and his replacement, Matt Lowe, had only just joined the fray when hooker Louis Fairbrother was helped off the field with a badly gashed eye.

Almost immediately a Bedworth prop followed with extensive damage to his mouth and at that point the referee stepped in and called a halt.

Midlands 2 West league secretary Stuart Hetherington confirmed that the referee had abandoned the game because Hereford were unable to field a complete front row and that he would not accept the option of continuing with uncontested scrums.

Under league rules the match should be replayed on the first available Saturday. This could have been this Saturday, February 22, but league officials agreed it was not practicable at such short notice and have rescheduled the match for Saturday, March 8.

Hereford chairman Guy Griffiths, aggrieved by Bedworth's approach to the game, said that he felt sorry for his club's players.

"It was a total waste of a day and money," he said.

"As far as I am concerned we will not be playing at Bedworth this season, but I will be guided by the players."

In the brief passage of play that preceded the abandonment, Hereford, who had beaten Bedworth earlier in the season, took a three-point lead through a Jeremy Grisman penalty.