RADCLIFFE Borough's match at Ossett Town was abandoned five minutes from time following a serious injury to one of their players.

The scores were level at 1-1 when referee Alix Pashley stopped play following a tackle on Boro debutant Reece Welsh that left him with a badly broken ankle.

Ossett's Sam Akeroyd was shown a straight red card for his challenge and the shock at the extent of the damage was clear on his and the rest of the players' faces.

Boro manager Danny Johnson later tweeted a picture of the player giving a thumbs up in hospital along with the message "on the mend already", but it is not clear at this stage how long it will take him to make a full recovery.

The Stainton Park side were looking for their first away win of the season in Evo-Stik Division One North, but started the game without four first-team regulars due to holidays and injuries.

Goalkeeper Chris Cheetham was called into action in the opening stages, diving full length to make a one-handed save to push away Nathan Curtis's shot from 10 yards.

But it was only a reprieve for Boro as Ossett took the lead on 11 minutes when captain Steven Jeff rattled in a volley from 30 yards.

Matthew Davies had a great chance to draw Boro level a minute later when he chased down a long ball and lobbed it over advancing keeper Brad Dixon, only to see his effort bounce agonisingly wide.

Dixon then foiled Ben Woods after he had broken clear of the Ossett defence.

A double substitution at the break saw the visitors exert more control and Davies drew them level on the hour, firing home from 10 yards after getting on the end of a Danny Lafferty knockdown following a Danny Lambert free kick.

Boro continued to push for the winner before the game was brought to a sudden halt following the injury to Welsh, who received a flood of good luck messages on social media.

Johnson must now raise the spirits of his remaining players for the visit of Welsh's former side, Salford City, to Stainton Park today, kick off 3pm.

Radcliffe Borough: Cheetham, Welsh, Lambert, Lafferty, McGrath, Knowles (McMahon 67), McLoughlan (Hindle 45), Jackson (Beadle 45), Foster, Davies, Woods. Not used: Brown, Landregan.