Romsey Town’s match away at Downton was abandoned after 65 minutes following a serious injury to Town’s Pedro Carvalho.

Romsey had taken a deserved first half lead when Ollie Bailey was played through by skipper Josh Ramsey.

Bailey still had work to do but he beat the Downtown defender for pace before rounding the keeper to fire home his first goal for the club from an acute angle. It was no more than Town had deserved, trying to play the more controlled football in a game where both teams needed the points to try and lift themselves up the table.

The second half saw to the incident that lead to the abandonment of the match.

Carvalho was challenged for the ball by a Downtown defender and as a result landed awkwardly.

Although clearly in pain, the game continued with Downton unwilling to kick the ball into touch before the referee intervened.

The game was held up for 55 minutes while Carvalho was administered with pain relief and treated on the pitch by paramedics before being taken by ambulance to Salisbury A&E. The game was finally abandoned.

Head coach Phillips was clearly upset following the game and said: “It’s always distressing seeing any player injured in a game but especially so when it’s one of your own players.

“I thought the reaction of one or two of the opposition players and management team was extremely poor, following what was obviously a serious incident.

“There are times when football becomes irrelevant and a player’s welfare should be the only concern.

“Pedro is not the type of player to go down looking for free kicks. He was in extreme pain from his shoulder and back, but more worryingly his neck, and was in and out of consciousness on the pitch for almost an hour, so for some to suggest it was being feigned was just simply out of order.” The injury overshadowed what would have been a vital three points for Town if they had held out for the win and Phillips commented “It was always going to be a difficult game because both teams need the points. I thought the first half was scrappy overall but that we were the better side playing the better football but the second we controlled the game a lot better.

“Ollie took his goal extremely well, which of course will now be taken away from him and that’s a real shame.

“Overall, it’s about Pedro and making sure he’s okay and thanking my players and coaching staff for conducting themselves so professionally.”

The club later announced that, following X-rays, Pedro Carvalho had suffered torn ligaments and muscles in both his shoulder and back and has serious internal bruising.

A club spokesman said: “We’re all delighted that the prognosis was less serious than was first feared and that Pedro will be back playing again soon.”

Romsey Town are back at the Bypass Ground tomorrow when they take on Amesbury Town in the Sydenhams Wessex League with a 3.00pm KO.