Oxford Cavaliers skipper Adrian Clark suffered an horrific injury in their Western Division 13-6 defeat away to Worcestershire Saints in the TotalRL.Com Conference.

Clark was rushed to hospital after only five minutes of the game, after banging his head on the bone-hard pitch. He was knocked unconscious and appeared to suffer a series of fits on the pitch.

After being detained in Worcester Royal Infirmary overnight, he was given the OK by doctors and was released.

The incident understandably affected the Oxford team, who conceded a try moments after the game re-started.

Without Clark, and other key performers, including injured player-coach Bryan Graham, and Mike Castle, who had been called up to represent London Broncos Academy against Widnes in Aberaron, Oxford lacked creativity and forward momentum.

They remained competitive, however, and some sturdy defensive work by stand-in full-back Matt Scaife in particular, kept the score down to 6-0 for most of the remainder of the game.

Cavaliers finally ran in the try they had been threatening when Ollie Derbyshire scored with five minutes remaining.

Adam White converted but was then unlucky moments later with a failed drop goal which would have levelled the scores.

Seconds before the hooter sounded, Worcester scored a match-winning second try.

Cavaliers will need to be at their best next week, away from home against table-topping Cardiff Demons.