With his six-foot spear in hand, medieval warrior Neil Ashton prepared for battle against the two attackers.
They had attacked his base out-of-the-blue, and with no-one around to provide backup, the lone player grabbed the nearest weapon and went on the offensive.
But this was not role-play, this was real life, and re-enactment fan Neil was face-to-face with two robbers who had come to raid the Sandbrook pub in Rochdale.
Pub manager Neil, 35, was in his flat above the Sandbrook last Friday night, when the men started climbing in his window.
Neil ran to tackle the intruders – and then spotted one of his spears out of the corner of his eye.
Neil said: ‘I do a lot of medieval re-enactments and noticed one of the spears on the floor, so I picked it up and started smashing him with it.
‘I was so full of adrenaline afterwards I felt like I could run a marathon.’
After the fight, one of the intruders ran into a corridor where he was confronted by other pub staff. Both thieves then fled empty-handed.
