West Bowling are facing a grim start to the season, with key players Danny Halmshaw and Liam Darville facing big bans for punching.

The duo are set to face an RFL tribunal after both were sent off for fighting in Bowling’s Challenge Cup second round defeat at Hammersmith Hills Hoists.

Halmshaw, sent off in the opening 10 minutes, is facing a Grade F Punching charge, while Darville, dismissed in the second half, is on a slightly lesser Grade E.

The pair are looking at being banned for at least the opening month of the National Conference League Premier Division season, while Halmshaw is most at risk, with a Grade F charge being upheld against him would rule him out for at least six matches.

Darville would miss four to six games if punished.

It was a fiery game in Chiswick, with Hammersmith’s Greg Lingard also now banned for two matches following his Grade D charge for Dangerous Contact.

Meanwhile, Dewsbury’s Ronan Dixon is banned for a game after his poor tackle on Ben Blackmore, which injured the Bulls winger on Sunday, that saw him sent to the sin bin in the pair’s 1895 Cup clash.