A keen amateur footballer fractured a man’s skull when violence flared over whether his leg was deliberately broken in a tackle, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Gareth Naylor, 28, floored Lee Kimberley “like a sack of potatoes” after trouble broke out between two groups of men in Wibsey High Street. Naylor, of Mayo Road, Odsal, Bradford, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm late on October 23, 2011. The court heard he used “excessive self defence”, knocking Mr Kimberley out and punching him again as he lay prone on the ground.

Naylor was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years’, with a community order that included 140 hours’ of unpaid work.

Prosecutor David Gordon told the court yesterday that Mr Naylor’s group and Mr Kimberley’s friends quarrelled in the Windmill pub, Wibsey, and trouble flared outside in the street.

There was ill feeling after an earlier football match in which Naylor maintained his leg had been deliberately broken by another player, not Mr Kimberley.

Mr Gordon said there was pushing and shoving in the pub that escalated into a stand-off between the groups outside. Blows were exchanged by others and Naylor and Mr Kimberley, who had both been drinking, were restrained by their friends. Mr Kimberley then approached Naylor and swung a punch at him, dealing a glancing blow.

Naylor then struck Mr Kimberley, flooring him “like a sack of potatoes,” according to an eye witness.

While Mr Kimberley was out cold and bleeding from his head, Naylor hit him again and aimed a kick at him that did not connect.

Mr Kimberley sustained a fractured skull and cheekbone. He spent two days in hospital, the court was told.

Ian Hudson, Naylor’s laywer, said the case had taken a very long time to come to court. Naylor was in work and willing to comply with the community order.

Judge Peter Benson said that although the violence came to him, Naylor was in an aggressive mood and floored Mr Kimberley, rendering him unconscious.