Local Sport

"Brains went out of the window"

ECFC teenager James Berry has had confirmation of a broken leg which he suffered in last week's 'friendly' against Crediton following a challenge by former ECFC trainee Ben Harris, a tackle which has sparked much controversy.

Sixteen year old Berry had come on as a substitute and scored City's third to go three up before an over-enthusiastic challenge from Harris resulted in a break of his tibia and fibula. Berry, a promising athlete and 400m runner, will now miss the AAAs National Championships due to the injury which may require plating.

ECFC Director of Football Steve Perryman was quoted as saying "It was an overly aggressive challenge... Sometimes where football is concerned brains go out of the window and on this occasion brains went severely out of the window."

The view of the Crediton staff however has been mixed – whilst there has been some condemnation of Harris' behaviour by the board, the Crediton manager Tony Voysey resigned due to the criticism the player has received. It's believed that Voysey will now turn his attention to UFC management, where his encouragement of broken bones will be well appreciated.

For City, this is the second time this pre-season that a player has been injured by a rash tackle against inferior opposition, after defender Danny Seaborne was injured against Bodmin Town. Bodmin, in contrast to Crediton, did manage to fight out a draw but failed to successfully break an ECFC's player's leg and left him instead with just a fracture.

The question over whether City should continue to play pre-season friendlies against crap opposition who are just out to claim a scalp (literally) has now been brought brutally into question.