Rugby league game in Leeds called off after 'ref fears for safety': Under-18 Cup final at Featherstone also abandoned because of crowd trouble

And on a bad weekend for the sport at grassroots level, the under-18s national final between two Yorkshire teams, at Featherstone Rovers’ Millennium Stadium, Post Office Road, went unfinished because of fighting among spectators in the main stand.

Match official Mark Cayton called a halt to the National Conference Premier Division game between Hunslet Club Parkside and visitors Lock Lane, from Castleford, midway through the second half.

Parkside secretary Paul Thorpe told the Evening Post he was “gobsmacked” when play was stopped and claimed the referee had said he “felt threatened by the Lock Lane players”, but a spokesman for the visitors insisted the official had been alarmed by behaviour from both teams.

The National Conference are investigating.

Meanwhile, ugly scenes off the pitch caused the BARLA under-18s National Cup final, between Dewsbury Moor Maroons and West Hull to be abandoned in extra time following what witnesses described as a “sustained outbreak of fighting in the main stand”.

The scores were locked at 16-16 when the play was halted, Moor having hit back from 16-0 down.

BARLA - the British Amateur Rugby League Association - have pledged a “full investigation”.

The under-18 Yorkshire Cup final at the same venue earlier this year, between Leeds side Stanningley and West Hull, was also marred by crowd trouble.