Andrew Jones, 40, a forklift truck driver, was furious over a tackle on his son Lee Evans, 20, and feared he had suffered a broken leg.

The referee sent the tackler, Paul David Smith, off the pitch, but as he left the pitch Jones punched him, leaving him with a cut above the eye.

At Mold Crown Court, Jones, of Bryn Dyrys in Bagillt, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and received a six month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

In addition, he was banned from all football matches until August 1 next year.

Judge John Rogers QC ordered Jones to pay £250 compensation to Mr Smith and £750 prosecution costs, leaving him with a £1,000 court bill.

The violence broke out at a Deeside Sunday League match at Northop Hall community centre on October 15 last year.

Mr Smith was playing for Secure Mortgages against visiting side The Stag.

Julie McNeill, prosecuting, said that after the home side scored first, the match "became quite hostile".

Mr Smith accepted that he tackled Lee Evans, the defendant's son, towards the end of the second half, which resulted in Mr Evans falling to the ground in pain.

Miss McNeill said: "Mr Smith described feeling a hand on his shoulder, being spun around, and he was punched to his right eye."

Prosecution witnesses, including the match referee, described it as a completely unprovoked attack.

"The blow caused him to fall to the ground on his hands and knees," said Miss McNeill.

"He felt his head spinning and he could see blood on the ground."
A wound to his right eyebrow needed five stitches, and his vision was blurred.

Jonathan Duffy, defending, said that since the incident his client had not attended a football match. He appreciated he could not take the law into his own hands and accepted full responsibility and had shown great remorse.

Mr Duffy said another player, Phillip Jackson, had made a statement in which he said he had been playing Sunday league football for seven years and had "never played in a game like it before".

"From the word go it was tough with late tackles left, right and centre. It was only a matter of time before the game erupted," Mr Jackson told police.

Another player, substitute Christopher Ashbrook, spoke of the spirit of the game, saying it was initially good natured, but that all changed when his team, Secure Mortgages, scored first.

He said: "Tackles started to fly in. A fight broke out and one of the other side's players was sent off. I came on at the beginning of the second half and the game didn't improve.

"It felt as if it could blow up at any time."

Mr Duffy said the assault was completely out of character for his client, a hard working man with family responsibilities.

Judge John Rogers told Jones: "You were a spectator at this Sunday football match. I accept that it was a keenly contested game.

"However, you had no business interfering by punching one of the players who had been ordered to leave the field.

"You are a strongly built man. You punched him in the face and caused an injury to his eye which required the insertion of five stitches.

"Unhappily, you have previous convictions for violence, but they are some years ago."

Judge Rogers warned that if he had been convicted after a trial then he would have been going to prison, but his guilty plea made a huge difference.

Bearing in mind his very good work record and his responsibilities towards his partner, their children and his children from a previous relationship, he had decided to suspend the prison sentence.