STEVE COFFEY suffered a horror injury at the weekend.
And the Atherton Colls ace could have lost a leg but for prompt action by medics.
He was rushed for an immediate operation on a dislocated hip at Stoke Hospital.
Coffey, the former Bolton Wanderers, YTS and LR player, was injured in the 3-0 defeat at Eastwood Hanley.
He fell awkwardly and was left screaming in pain.
Joint manager Steve Walton explained: "Steve fell badly and we knew straightaway something serious was wrong. His whole leg was twisted the opposite way to his body."
Doctors later informed club officials if the operation had been delayed for another hour he would have lost the leg.
To end a bad day, joint boss Ian Lamb was red carded.
ATHERTON LR scored a superb 1-0 win at unbeaten Stocksbridge Park Steels.
"The game was always going to be tight," commented assistant manager Peter Lee. "They have drawn five games which tends to indicate they don't give much away.
"We had played very well at Curzon in midweek but conceded three goals to go down 3-2 so we decided the important thing was to keep it tight.
"Andy Hills made a couple of good saves but other than that they didn't threaten too much.
"Mark Stewart scored for us on 65 minutes when he fired into the bottom corner following Steve Gavin's backheel. After that we controlled the game and were well worth the three points."
LEIGH ATHLETIC crashed 3-1 in extra time to Liverpool Combination side St Dominic's.
They played with plenty of spirit, but injuries at the close of normal time left them with a hill to climb.
The Liverpool side held firm as Athletic tried to force the pace, then hit back with a fine goal.
In the last minute of normal time Athletic grabbed a lifeline when goalkeeper Steve Hilton went up for a corner and fired home with great aplomb.
Great stuff from Gordon Walker and Rob Lysons. Athletic can take heart in defeat.
LOTS of goals as Barnes Passage and Leigh Olympic drew 3-3.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article