THE fallout from the round three Western Border football fixture between Millicent and Casterton Sandford on Saturday is yet to be completed after an incident which saw a Saints’ youngster carted off to hospital in an ambulance.
What was believed to be a late hit on youngster Frazer Bradley saw the Saints player knocked unconscious and taken from the ground in dramatic style after an ambulance was called onto the playing surface at McLaughlin Park.
The 17 year old was believed to have marked the ball, with Casterton Sandford’s Matt Killey challenging him and Bradley left unconscious on the ground.
Killey was given a yellow card and sent from the ground for a 15-minute period, with the game stopped while care was given to the stricken youngster.
It took approximately 20 minutes for Bradley to be taken from the ground to hospital.
According to Saints coach Lyndon Smith, Bradley was released later that night.
“Frazer was up and about walking around the hospital Saturday night,” he said.
“He was discharged Saturday night, but they had to take all the precautions.
“He will have a couple of weeks off and hopefully he will be back into it.”
Bradley turned 17 years of age this year and stepped up to the A Grade ranks full time.
According to Smith he was arguably best on ground for the Saints the previous game against East Gambier.
However, Smith was disappointed with the way the situation had panned out on Saturday.
“Nobody wants to intentionally put anyone in hospital or hurt anyone, but it is disappointing to say the least,” he said.
“There was a bit of a scuffle beforehand and I said to my guys it could have potentially fuelled some unsportsmanlike play from both sides.
“When people get a bit flustered they can do stupid things.
“With such a young team it was always going to go one way or another.
“We could have used it for fuel to make us play better or go back into our shell, which unfortunately we did.”
It was reported from various onlookers there was a certain amount of “niggle” early in the game, with Millicent’s Jonah Grimes also yellow carded prior to the incident.
A further scuffle had broken out in the opening minutes of the game which resulted in a Cats 50-metre penalty and a subsequent goal.
Smith believes much of the fire between to the two clubs stems back to a brawl at McLaughlin Park a few seasons ago, but is disappointed it has escalated into rough conduct on the field.
“I never played the game three years ago with the big brawl, but I think there is just that culture, a bit of a rivalry between the two clubs now,” he said.
“I would much rather see it played in a better spirit.”
Casterton Sandford coach Hamish Jarrad said he could not really see the incident at the time, but was concerned for Bradley’s welfare.
“I’m glad Frazer is okay,” he said.
“That is the main thing.
“Straight after the incident that was our main concern.
“It was a bit worrying when he was out for so long.
“Matt was very remorseful after it.”
Jarrad said without a clear view of the incident it was hard to comment further.
He said it was disappointing there was no video footage available from the game.
“It was disappointing the video people didn’t rock up,” he said.
“One way or another, we don’t want these incidents in footy.
“We need to see the footage to clear Matt or the video will hold him accountable.”
At the time of going to print no details were available of a possible tribunal hearing or set penalty.
