Congleton RUFC's recent away day was abandoned following a player injury.

Head coach Philip Humphrey has released a statement after the Bears' match at Fleetwood on Saturday, January 3, was stopped early.

Play was brought to a halt after a player was injured while attempting to stop a try, suffering a 'clear facial injury and suspected neck and head issues'.

Following the match, the home side shared the following statement.

We are aware of the significant interest surrounding yesterday's home game. Fleetwood Rugby Club is currently preparing a comprehensive report at the request of the league. We are cooperating fully with the authorities, drawing on the first-hand accounts of the four match officials, players, coaches, club officials, and those in attendance along with video evidence to ensure an accurate record of events.

To respect the integrity of the league's review process, the club will make no further comment at this time. We believe it is best to allow the official facts to speak for themselves rather than engaging with speculative reports. We encourage the rugby community to refrain from forming or spreading opinions without the full facts of the event, or with any form of unconscious bias

Please be advised our social media will be closely monitored, and anything we deem inflammatory, speculative or disrespectful will be removed and the users blocked/reported as necessary to maintain a constructive environment for our members and supporters

Congleton were down 36-0 when the match was called off (Credit: Canva)

Wanting to clear up the situation, Congleton's head coach then released his own statement.

He explained that the injured player was stretchered off the pitch by the opposition physio team as a precaution.

The referee then asked the coaching team if they were able to continue.

Philip said: "We all agreed we wanted to continue. At the same point the opposition had already began coming back out to the pitch. At no point had Congleton refused to return to the pitch as sadly suggested.

"All of Congleton returned to the pitch to play. As a club we had one last discussion if everyone was happy to continue. It became clear that players were not in the correct state of mind to continue.

"With their safety in mind, the coaches had no choice. The referee asked again if we felt we could carry on and we sadly declined.

"We will never risk our players safety under any circumstances. In recent years we've had a number of serious injuries along these lines and as such take any like this to heart."

He added: "On a personal note, I have sadly had first hand experience of a death in the aftermath of a rugby injury. Therefore, I take any injury's to the head or neck as seriously as possible.

"The fact it had clearly knocked our players made playing on impossible. Anyone who's played rugby knows, if your head is elsewhere you will only create more injuries which I am unwilling to do.

"Up to this point they were winning 36-0 and were clearly the better team. We would never want them to lose out on a well deserved win due to something like this. We fully appreciate this was not the outcome they would want.

"We as a club will happily accept a 300 point loss if it means our players are safe. Only last season, a club player sustained a career ending neck injury which could very well have had life-changing results or worse.

"Most importantly, I would like to make sure our thanks for the physio team is on record. You looked after our player brilliantly. He was not your player but you looked after as if he was. Nothing was too much and your quality of care was outstanding. All of the physio team are credits to their club.

"Lastly, the player is doing much better and will now start his road to recovery. We wish him all the best and hope to see him well too."