After all the 'on and the off' of the much-awaited Hampshire Worthington's Cup first round clash between the county's top two clubs, Havant sensationally withdrew on Saturday evening to give Basingstoke a walkover.

It was another amazing twist to this elongated saga that saw the date moved, alternatives offered, organisers blamed and clubs forced to schedule two games in the space of 24 hours.

After their National League defeat to Redruth, Havant's director of rugby Adam King sat down and considered his options, given another batch of injuries had been inflicted on his already scaled-down squad - and was forced to make the decision. Havant's main problem centred on the scrumhalf position with Dave Jones recovering from injury and Liam Davenport and Grant Morris definitely out, while a number of back row players were also struggling.

However, the 12-times County champions admitted they had a team ready to go into the game against the current holders and nine-time winners, but after the Redruth game, they were further decimated and felt it would be unfair to call in players from the third XV just to complete the fixture.

King's opposite number at Basingstoke, Ian Calder, commented that 14 of his 19-man squad from their defeat to Old Colfeians would have played and sympathised in part with Havant's plight, saying: "I can see where they are coming from - their league position is the important thing.

"It is just unfortunate that we drew each other in the first round as the injury toll would have been quite a bit, I presume, especially if we put out our full strength team. It is a fair decision in the end."

It will now be interesting to see the reaction of the Hampshire RFU on whether they continue their trend of banning sides who withdraw from the cup competition, as they did with Petersfield last season.

If they do, then both Havant and Southampton will sit out next year's competition. But the National League side hope they are lenient and take into consideration the problems with which they have been faced with regard to injuries and league games.

"We know that Petersfield got bumped for doing that to Andover last season, but hopefully it will not happen to us," said a Havant spokesperson.

It was a weekend of withdrawals with both Fordingbridge and Ventnor receiving a free route to the Worthington's Bowl quarter-finals as Paxton Pumas and Kingsclere suffered from a lack of numbers over the weekend.