SIX players were shown red cards – four of them when the game was not even in progress – forcing the referee to abandon last Wednesday’s Reading Senior Cup semi final between Binfield and Woodcote Stoke Row at Hill Farm Lane, writes Dave Wright.

The visitors had four men dismissed and Binfield two, all inside the opening 15 minutes of the second half.

In scenes never before witnessed in the Hellenic League, a group of players jostled, pushed and punched each other close to the WSR bench.

Referee Jonathan Was and his assistants did their best to restore peace.

They spent some time discussing matters before dishing out the cards and there could easily have been more.

It was a great shame, particularly for the visiting fans, as Ross Weatherstone’s men were holding their own and certainly in with a shout of pulling off a shock result to reach the final at Madejski Stadium.

However, there was a glimpse of their lack of discipline from an early stage and after 10 minutes Sam Tucker talked his way into the ref’s notebook for dissent.

Binfield manager Roger Herridge was also unhappy that a “shocking challenge”on Grant Kemp only produced a caution rather than a red.

“I felt that started it all off,” said Herridge.

“The ref should have been a little stronger and sent the left-back off.”

The Moles certainly knew they were in a game. They were looking edgy with the Thames Valley Premier League side creating the better chances.

Sam Green, Adam Cashin-Murray and Tucker all went close, while Binfield’s best opportunity fell to Brad Pagliaroli.

Herridge said later: “I felt we were playing into their hands a bit and thought we were trying to get involved in a physical game we were not going to win.”

The Binfield manager also thought two or three of his players were not at their best, adding: “It didn’t seem their type of game, so it became a bit of a leveller.

“It has been a long, hard season and some were looking tired.”

Weatherstone must have been the happier manager at half-time, but that was soon to change.

Six minutes into the second period Cote’s Dan Givens was booked for comments to the ref and shortly afterwards it all started to kick off.

James Worsfold reacted badly to a challenge from Jack Broome and was sent off.

However, his side still got the free-kick and it led to Green giving them a 54th-minute lead with a powerful header.

And, despite being down to 10 men, the visitors must have started to believe they were capable of pulling off a shock win.

That all changed in the next five minutes of absolute mayhem.

Gareth Evans had a go at Jake White and was ordered off, but seemed reluctant to leave and then it all kicked off, with several players from both sides becoming involved in an ugly bar-room type brawl.

It occurred close to the Woodcote Stoke Row bench, from where substitute David Rook leapt off his seat to get involved, with Kemp appearing to be their main target.

Rook was red carded along with Sam Tucker, as were Kemp and team-mate Liam Ferdinand.