WATCH: Moment horror injury ends Gold Coast Premier League grand final

A horror injury has forced the Gold Coast Premier League grand final to be abandoned. Watch the moment that ended the premiership decider here.

PALM Beach footballer Heath Finnegan had to wait more than an hour for an ambulance to attend to his broken leg after a horror collision that forced an end to the Gold Coast Premier League grand final.

Finnegan and his Southport opponent collided inside the 18-yard box - the sound clearly heard from the other side of the Croatian Sports Park pitch - and the Sharks player immediately doubled over in pain.

Heath Finnigan falls to the turf after breaking his leg in a tackle.

With the match hanging on a knife’s edge at nil-all after 56 minutes, the call was ultimately made to postpone the fixture until next weekend due to the length of the injury delay.

Palm Beach coach Brett Budwee said it was “unbelievable” that Finnegan had to wait for more than an hour to be taken away in an ambulance.

“He’s lying on the wet, cold ground for an hour with a broken leg. Put yourself in that situation, it’s almost torture,” the coach said.

“Hats off to the medical people that got around him when they did.”

Budwee said the “devastated” players spent the first 20-30 minutes after the collision preparing to resume play, but after fans began to leave and it became obvious the delay would extend beyond an hour, the mood changed.

“A lot of the Southport players and my players are pretty good mates. The reaction from them was pretty devastating as well,” Budwee said.

“My players, they’re all best mates. Heath was actually supposed to be at my centre-back’s wedding (on Saturday) as his best man, but that all got postponed due to Covid - he wasn’t really even supposed to be there.

“It’s something I’ve never had to experience in football before, having to play a game again. (But) after 20 or 30 minutes, when the crowd started to leave, the vibe at the ground had changed.

“Everyone was worried about the ambulance.

“All my players were devastated. I don’t think anyone would have been in the right frame of mind to restart the game.

“To have the game postponed, I think, was the right call.”

The replay will now be played after the Coast League grand finals on Saturday.

Budwee said his young star was “probably going to be out for six months” after going into surgery on Sunday afternoon.

“He’s devastated. But he’s all right, he’s positive,” Budwee said.

“He’s been fielding calls all morning, and so have I, from clubs all over the Coast asking about him. It really shows the community spirit of football down here.”

A Football Gold Coast spokesperson said there was a paramedic at the ground however no ambulance was on standby.

The spokesperson said FGC would “consider having an ambulance” for future finals as a result of the delay.

Finnegan’s ‘injury soured what loomed as a perfect grand final day for the Sharks, after the Premier League Reserves side prevailed 1-0 over Surfers Paradise in the earlire game.

Cody Anderson’s long range goal on 12 minutes proved the difference.