Five off in Hills tie (From Malvern Gazette)

Five off in Hills tie

11:17am Friday 22nd February 2013 in Sport

A FOOTBALL match involving a Malvern team was abandoned after 42 minutes because five opposition players were sent off.

Katy O’Ryans were reduced to six men for offences ranging from violent conduct to improper and insulting behaviour towards Malvern Hills in Worcester and District League Saturday Division Two.

It forced referee Darren Amor, who also booked two other home players, to stop the clash in Stourport because teams cannot field less than seven players.

According to Hills official Daniel Tedds, Amor halted the match at 0-0 amid safety fears for the visiting team after tempers flared.

He said: “It all kicked off and the referee decided to abandon the game because of our safety.”

The five players will be banned from Saturday, March 9, with three facing three-match suspensions and the others missing two games.

Worcestershire FA have charged Katy O’Ryans with multi-player misconduct and they could yet be hit by further league punishments.