Reduced to 11 men by two rushes of blood, Hornets were clinging tenaciously to a five point lead with two minutes remaining. As Batley shipped the ball to the left in search of the obvious hole, Hornets' scrum half Gary Hulse hurled himself into a desperate tackle. Immediately he exited whence he came: all rag-doll arms and legs and very obviously unconscious before he hit the floor.

The game's guidelines on the laws state that play must be stopped immediately if there is a serious head injury, but referee Jamie Leahy waved play on. And Batley obliged. Having moved the ball away from the incident, the visitors switched play back to the place where Hulse's prostrate body lay. Batley ran the ball straight past Hulse - in a position where any attempted tackle could have resulted in him being knocked or injured further.

With play continuing around Hulse, the medical staff couldn't get to him. And, as his team mates wavered between struggling to avoid their stricken colleague and scrambling to defend, Batley exploited the situation to score.

By now unconscious for a good two minutes, the medical staff began work on Hulse. Oxygen, a neck brace and some very cautious examination ensued; but while all this was happening, Mr Leahy gave Batley the all clear to take their conversion attempt. And Batley obliged. Ian Gordon hitting the winning goal as a clutch of concerned medics treated Hulse just 20 metres away. Mr Leahy unconcerned about the repercussions of a sliced effort or a rebound from a post.

The referee's flagrant lack of concern for the player's wellbeing sent uproar through the stand, but as the trainers, doctors and physios struggled to support a still unconscious Hulse onto the stretcher, Mr Leahy gave the ok to kick-off with the Hornets scrum half still lying in the back-field.

Protestations eventually led to Leahy stopping the clock: a full five minutes after Hulse hit the deck. Appalling really.

As for the 78 preceding minutes, Hornets had been 22-4 up courtesy of tries from Blanchard, Andrews, and Fagborun. Rob Ball's 50th minute dismissal for striking out whilst in possession gave Batley the room they'd struggled to find all afternoon. Hornets looked to have secured matters with a blistering hat-trick try from Fagborun after 73 minutes. Svabic's sin-binning for dissent with 8 minutes remaining reduced Hornets' numbers further; and the Hulse incident gave Batley all the help they needed, effectively gifting them victory over 10 men. Very commendable.

If you write enough Batley match reports, you become very familiar with the phrase "Batley came to spoil..." - and they took it to new levels at Spotland on Sunday. While Hornets were their own worst enemy - ill discipline giving Batley the chance to actually play a bit of football instead of flopping, flailing and niggling at every tackle - the manner of their win was deeply unsavoury.

Having left the ground in an emergency ambulance under a shadow of grave concern, Gary Hulse was released from Hospital late yesterday evening with a heavy concussion and whiplash injuries. Not quite so lucky was Iain Marsh, also taken to hospital with a double compound fracture of his finger that requires surgery - an injury that could well end his season.

In the end, a difficult afternoon to enjoy. Spoiled, as usual, by Batley. But ultimately ruined by a refereeing performance of unbelieveable incompetence.