Players pitch into rescue ambulance from field

FERGAL LYNCH

The season of goodwill came early in Enfield on Sunday afternoon as the players from both Enfield Celtic and Kentstown Rovers joined forces to assist an injured goalkeeper and then push an ambulance out of the muck.

The North East Football League Div 1 clash between the top two sides was going Kentstown’s way as Enfield lost their first choice goalkeeper to a knee injury as he retrieved the ball from behind the goals.

The replacement goalkeeper, Paddy Haslam, came on and produced an excellent save to deny Kentstown a goal, but then all the drama happened.
As Haslam tried to pounce on the loose ball inside his six-yard box he collided with the Kentstown centre-half and suffered a bang to the head as the ball rolled to the net.

Kentstown Rovers official Noel Walsh picks up the story from there.
“The goal was scored, but the ‘keeper stayed down and he didn’t get up. He started complaining about numbness down his left hand side, but he could move his fingers so just to be safe an ambulance was called,” said Walsh.
“In fairness to the referee, John Regan, he didn’t abandon the game because it was a good morning and when the ambulance came the driver tried to go down around the back of the goals and he got stuck in the mud.
“The pitch was perfectly playable, but the areas around the pitch were very wet and the ambulance driver when straight up through the muck and got stuck behind the goals at the corner flag.
“We pushed him forward and he got stuck, so the two teams joined forces to push him back down to the car park. The funny thing was that when we pushed him back to the car park we turned around to look at the injured player and here he was coming walking towards the ambulance.
“The first aid people from both Enfield and Kentstown worked well together to assist the injured player and the players all worked well together to help the ambulance out of the muck.
“It was a real top of the table clash, a tough game, but it wasn’t a dirty game and for that half hour both teams worked together to look after the injured player, it was great sportsmanship from both players,” concluded Walsh.

Kentstown won the game 3-0 to remain top of the NEFL Div 1 table.