A RELEGATION battle was brought to an abrupt halt after the referee was knocked out.

Mike Vaughan, from Halesowen, suffered concussion when he was struck on the side of the head by the ball following a kick by Droitwich scrum-half Craig Burgess during their home match with Ledbury.

With the referee unable to continue, the Midlands Three West (South) fixture, vital to both sides' survival quest, was stopped seven minutes from time with Droitwich 10-7 ahead.

Both clubs now face an anxious wait to see whether the RFU allow the result to stand or the game replayed.

Droitwich president Robert Bray said: "The scrum-half tried to kick the ball in field and in doing so hit the referee on the side of the head and knocked him out.

"We did have our own referee on the sidelines but Ledbury didn't agree to that, which is understandable."

Bray said he thought the match would be awarded to Droitwich as the game had passed the hour-mark, although no decision can be taken until the RFU has studied reports of the game.

Bray added: "He (the referee) seemed to think we would get the game but there was no way he could continue. He was OK in the clubhouse afterwards.

"It was unfortnate as Ledbury thought they could have equalised and we think we could have score more."

Ledbury initiated the scoring with a try in the first few minutes out on the left, a score well converted from a difficult angle.

The fighting spirit of the Droitwich side reappeared again as, midway through the first-half, Jamie Faulkner cut in from the wing and tore through the heart of Ledbury's defence to score under the posts.

Andy Gallagher converted and later kicked a penalty to give the hosts a 10-7 half-time lead.

Scoring opportunities were few and far between in a tense match although Ledbury came closest.

In a moment of drama midway through the second-half, Ledbury's full-back hit an upright with his penalty kick close to the posts, the ball bouncing back into play before being cleared.

Meanwhile, Pershore ended the first-half of the season on a high note with a 25-11 home victory against Old Silhillians.

The hosts were magnificent and the first 30 minutes was their best display of the season.

A tap penalty released Karl Evans five yards out and he bulldozed through two tackles and touched down.

Pershore were quickly awarded the first of Robin Haines' five penalty successes to further their lead.

The visitors reduced the lead by kicking two penalties before Steve Holmes burst through for the second try.

Haines kicked four second-half penalties but Old Sils scored a deserved late try to keep the score respectable.