WORCESTER City’s replay with Walsall Wood was abandoned yesterday (Tuesday) after a floodlight failure ended play at the start of the second half.

Match referee David Hilton made the call in the 50th minute with the scores still locked at 0-0 at The John Sylvester Stadium and with the lights flickering.

It was a cagey first half that was reminiscent of Saturday’s goalless draw. Despite a lack of chances in the opening quarter, it was a lively period of play and a good battle between the two sides. Walsall Wood dominated the attacks but failed to test the City keeper.

The pick of the early opportunities fell to the home side when Kaiman Anderson nearly latched onto a cross from Carter Lycett but the left-back’s ball into the middle sailed over the players.

City manager Chris Cornes was unhappy with some of the fouls committed on his side, many of which went unchallenged by the referee who gave the boss a verbal warning.

Wood went close again in the 18th minute as Anderson broke through on goal and tried to knock his attempt around Haydn Whitcombe but was denied by the agile City shotstopper who prevented a certain tap-in.

City then had a brief spell of dominance midway through the half, winning a number of corners and headers in the box, the majority of which were headed over the bar.

Corey Cooper had a shot from range for Wood on the half-hour, but his effort sailed wide of the mark before Elliot Hartley went close to breaking the deadlock with a header inside the box for Worcester.

City substitute Zac Guinan also unlocked the defence on the brink of half-time and rolled the ball past keeper Andy Wycherley but the shot was cleared off the line by captain Ash Carter.

This was the last clear chance before the interval and the second half was delayed due to issues with the floodlights before the referee agreed to get things going.

But just five minutes in, the issues persisted, and the referee decided to call proceedings to a halt.

The game will now be replayed again in the next few days.