FOOTBALL ACCIDENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 July 1922, Page 4

FOOTBALL ACCIDENTS.

SEVERAL IN ONE MATCH. A chapter of accidents, one being of a serious nature, marked the progress of the senior B football match, Eltham v. Star, at Puke-kura Park, New Plymouth, on Saturday. The game had been in progress only five minutes when the referee (Mr. F. Webb) fell to the ground. All eyes were on the ball at the time and it was a minute or so before either the players or the spectators noticed Mr. Webb’s predicament. It appeared that a Star player had accidentally collided with him, and as a result the referee received a bad gash above the eye, an injury which incapacitated him for several minutes and caused him to leave the field for the remainder of the game, which was controlled by Mr. E. Gilmour. A more serious accident occurred halfway through the second spell when a Star player named Hurley received a severe kick on the knee-cap. Medical assistance was requisitioned, when it was found that the player had smashed his knee-cap badly. The ambulance was sent for and later removed Burley to the hospital. He was reported last night to be comfortable. Yet another mishap occurred a, lew minutes later, when Dunford, the Star full-back, in an attempt to stop a score by Eltham, collided with the goal-post, which fortunately was padded. Dunford was “out” for a few minutes and appeared “groggy” on resuming, but towards the end of the game appeared no worse for his mishap.