Dawley Town 1 AFC Ludlow 2 (Abandoned after 53 minutes)

DISTRAUGHT Ludlow player John Haycox said he was in tears on the way to hospital after a broken ankle crushed his dreams of seeing Manchester United play in the Champions League.

Full-back Haycox was left in agony eight minutes into the second-half as he attempted to clear the ball.

The freak injury has left Haycox with a broken ankle and ligament damage, ruling him out for the rest of the season.

Saturday’s match was abandoned with Ludlow leading 2-1 after goals inside the opening 10 minutes from Danny Crowther and Dickie Everall.

Twenty-five-year-old Haycox, who was signed from Presteigne just six weeks ago, was due to fly to Istanbul this week with AFC Ludlow goalkeeper Ian Havard to watch Manchester United face Galatasaray.

“I was more gutted about missing the game then the actual injury and I was crying in the ambulance,” said Haycox, who is from Ludlow and works as a plasterer.

“I was going to go to Turkey with Ian Havard, but it looks as if he will have to look after me.

“He didn’t fly out, because he said that there are more important things in life.”

Haycox, who was taken to hospital in Telford, said that he feared the worst as soon as the injury occurred.

“It hurt from the start and I was in a lot of pain,” said Haycox, who had an operation to repair his ankle on Sunday.

“The paramedics gave me gas and air and they were really good.

“The players also looked after me and put blankets over me.”

Dawley donated the proceeds of their post-match raffle to Haycox.

Ludlow are still coming to terms with losing fellow fullback Ryan Lockley, who suffered a serious ankle injury three weeks ago during Ludlow’s Shropshire FA Challenge Cup tie against Newport Town.

“It was a similar injury to Ryan’s and he will be in plaster for eight weeks,” said AFC Ludlow manager Dave Cooper.

“John has had an Achilles injury so missed the previous three games, but we were so short that he said he would play.

“We feel that we are jinxed at the moment and have asked the league if we could play some midweek games at Ludlow under the lights, but it depends whether some teams want to play midweek.”

Ludlow, who have played seven games fewer than top-of-thetable Church Stretton in the Mercian League Premier Division, will be hoping to kickstart their season when they travel to Shifnal United 97 this Saturday.

“They are doing OK and play at Shifnal Town’s g round, which is one of the best pitches in Shropshire,” said Cooper.

“We should have a couple of players back, so hopefully we should go into the game in better shape.”