Ambulances called to treat players injured in night of carnage
STRETCHED emergency responders were forced to converge on a lower division football match in Ingham on Friday night after a series of on-field collisions left three players badly injured.
The match between the Ingham Football Club and Townsville Warriors thirdgrade teams in Hinchinbrook was halted following the injuries, which required the attendance of two ambulances. In one of the collisions, two men clashed heads resulting in a badly fractured nose to one Ingham player and a nasty gash to the head of a second man from Townsville.
In the second, a player suffered what is believed to be a knee injury, leaving the man in agony until well after he had been administered pain relief by the first of the two ambulances that arrived on the scene.
It is understood an ambulance crew from Cardwell, 40 minutes north of Ingham, had to be tasked to deal with the second incident. A Queensland Ambulance spokesman confirmed two men were taken from the Ingham Football Club grounds to Ingham Hospital in a stable condition.
Ingham Football Club president Nick Rinaudo said none of the injuries were the result of malicious tackles.
“One player had a knee inj jury and another was a head clash when two players were going for the ball,” he said.
“One player I think had a broken nose, and the other had a cut to the head.
“One ambulance came along for the first injury, and then while that was happening the second happened, so another ambulance had to be called. The knee was probably the worst one.”
Mr Rinaudo said it was a sorry sight to see the players injured. “It’s just one of those awkward things,” he said.
“There weren’t any malicious incidents during the game but you’ll find in the lower divisions that there usually is more of these injuries.”
The game was competed, with Warriors winning the match.