Skipper Long concussed as Killen pick up first point

KILLEN Rangers skipper Darren Long is likely to miss the next couple of games after being concussed during the first half of at hard fought encounter against Tummery Athletic at Crawford’s Lane on Saturday.

Tummery Athletic 2 Killen Rangers 2

Long, who had cancelled out Martin Hughes’s opener with a bullet header, was knocked unconscious when struck on the head with the ball shortly after Andrew Stevenson had given the visitors a shock 2-1 lead.

The centre-back was taken to hospital and, after all the relevant checks and tests had been carried out, was released late on Saturday evening.

It appears that the defender suffered nothing more than concussion but will have to follow certain protocols before being allowed to return to action.

Killen’s joint manager Allister Sproule admitted it had been a worrying situation.

“It was scary to be honest,” said Sproule.

“Obviously there was a lot of concern as Darren appeared to be knocked out cold. The main thing is that it appears he is going to be okay.

“I have to pay tribute to everyone who attended to him including those from the Tummery camp.”

The day itself didn’t start well for basement boys Killen when goalkeeper Jay Young had to withdraw from the squad and with back-up keeper Trevor Morrison in Liverpool watching his beloved Reds, James Hemphill was drafted in between the sticks at the eleventh hour.

And just 16 minutes in Hemphill was picking the ball out of the net after Hughes fired the champions into an early lead.

But Killen, who before Saturday hadn’t registered a single point, hit back to score twice in seven minutes. Long levelled with a bullet header from a Graham Young free kick before Stevenson, arguably the smallest man on the field, repeated the trick with a near-post header from a Young corner.

Just four minutes later the game was interrupted by the injury to Long and after it restarted it remained 2-1 at the interval.

As expected Tummery threw the kitchen sink at Killen in the second half. Ryan Hanna’s team forced a succession of corner kicks and fired a number of shots over the crossbar and wide. Eventually the pressure told when on 73 minutes Paudi Dillon netted with a low drive from the edge of the area.

Athletic continued to bombard the visiting goal searching for a winner but the Killen rearguard stood strong to see the game out.

In fact, the visitors might have stole the points on the counter attack but Jordan Orr and Adam Buchanan both sent efforts wide of the target.