Bell Park under-18 player taken in an ambulance after back injury with U18 and reserves clash abandoned

A player has been taken to hospital after a crunching tackle, with matches called off following an ambulance delay.

Junior sport spread Bell Park v Colac Under 18 football game Picture: Mark Wilson

Two games of football have been called off after a Bell Park junior was been taken from the ground in an ambulance following a crunching tackle.

Dragons forward Chad Taylor was caught holding the ball by a South Barwon player in what was described as a fair tackle and landed on his back in the final quarter of Bell Park’s under-18 clash against the Swans.

There were fears for the youngster when he lost feeling in his legs, with umpires immediately stopping play.

The ambulance took more than an hour to arrive at McDonald Reserve in Belmont and he was eventually taken to hospital with a back injury.

Dragons under-18 coach Chris Tyquin said spinal damage was ruled out by ambulance staff with Taylor eventually regaining feeling in his legs.

The under-18s match ended with South Barwon 21 points in front but the ambulance delay also forced the reserves clash at the same ground to be abandoned.

Tyquin said there was nothing untoward about the tackle and said the result was better for Taylor than first thought.

“It really was just a footy accident. Chad took the mark and wanted to move the ball forward fast and he got tackled, which was holding the ball but it was like a dump tackle. After the free kick was paid he landed on his back and that’s where the injury actually came from,” Tyquin said.

“When it first happened he actually moved, he was OK. I thought, ‘he will get up soon’, one of those ones. But then once he rolled over the legs didn’t move or anything like that.

“It is a lot better than what we thought, because he wasn’t able to move his legs or feel his legs at the start. Then he gradually was able to move his toes and all that kind of stuff and then when the ambulance got there they put pressure on his legs and he could start feeling his legs.”

The luckless Taylor, a promising under-16 talent who had been filling in for Bell Park’s under-18 side, had only just returned from another injury blow.

“He has just come back from a shoulder injury too, I think it is his first week back,” Tyquin said.

“He is a really good player for his age and he has been standing up in the under-18s quite well, just a bit of bad luck.”

Originally published as Bell Park under-18 player taken in an ambulance after back injury with U18 and reserves clash abandoned