Thornbury Town FC travelled up the M5 to play fellow high-flyers Cheltenham Saracens but were left disappointed as the match was called off just 90 minutes before kick-off.

The match, which would have pitted the 4th place Thorns against the 2nd place Saracens, was called off by the referee after a group of travellers had pitched up on the playing fields.

The situation left the ref with no choice but to postpone the league match.

A new date for that game will be decided in due course.

The cancellation will come as a big blow for Thornbury who were due to be playing against Newent away in the second leg of their Subsidiary Cup tie on Tuesday.

That match was also postponed after the home side’s floodlights were not in use.

This means that the last Thornbury match was on Tuesday, October 30 against Newent in the first leg of their cup tie.

The Thorns welcomed Newent to the Mundy Playing Fields just four days after beating them 2-6 in the league.

The opening exchanges came and went without much incident, although Thornbury did have goal disallowed for offside as they tried to assert themselves as they had done previously.

However, they did eventually make their mark on the match with Craig Lancastle scoring from 15 yards out with aplomb.

A sensational goal-line clearance from Jim Brock then preserved the lead for the Thorns.

Marcus Wormwell then had one cleared off the line at the other end as the home side looked to end the tie before the second leg.

Their second goal came just five minutes into the second half as Wormwell got his goal, finishing from Matt Davis' saved strike.

The Thornbury crossbar was then sent rattling after a drive from Newent, however other than that there was not much concern for a defence that performed solidly throughout the game.

The two cancelled matches means that the Thorns have had an 11 day break between matches.

They now play Pewsey Vale at 3.00pm on Saturday in the league away from home, with a coach being provided for fans.