A Worcester University student suffered a head injury after being stamped on by an opponent in a football match, a court was told.

Thomas Reeves suffered cuts and bruising and was left with stud marks from Greg Bishop's boot imprinted on his face.

Mr Reeves, the captain of Ocean Design Rangers, was playing in a cup-tie at the team's home ground in Cookley, near Kidderminster, on April 16 last year when he was felled by a headbutt.

He was then stamped on by Bishop, a player with Severn Stars from Stourbridge, because he believed the victim was trying to get him sent off by rolling around on the ground, said Laura Hobson, prosecuting.

Mr Reeves was taken to hospital in Worcester with a swollen face and a three-centimetre cut on his head after he recovered consciousness.

Bishop admitted to police that he lost his temper "in a moment of madness".

Recorder Alan Parker told 25-year-old Bishop, of Leevale Road, Stourbridge, that only by luck had the victim avoided being injured or killed.

He told Bishop he had brought shame on his team and was unfit to play a contact sport.

He gave Bishop an eight-month jail term, suspended for two years, and ordered him to pay costs of £277 and Mr Reeves £750 compensation. He must also carry out 200 hours of unpaid community work.

Miss Hobson told Worcester Crown Court that the violence blew up after both players fell over when contesting the ball.

They got to their feet but Bishop lost control and launched his attack. He had a previous conviction for threatening behaviour and a police caution for common assault.

Laura Kasasian, defending, said Bishop - who pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm - was punched several times by the victim's team mates in retaliation, fined £100 by the football authorities and banned from playing for four months.