Keith injury scares Falkirk

THERE is nothing more horrific that seeing an injured person and knowing that there is nothing you can do to help him.

That feeling must be compounded tenfold if you do know them and they are one of your team-mates.

That was the predicament the

players of Morton and Falkirk found themselves in at Cappielow on Saturday just one minute into the second half when Derek Collins, of Morton, and ''Dan'' Marino Keith, of Falkirk, were seriously injured after an

accidental collision.

Both players went for a ball and there was a sickening thud of heads before they collapsed to the ground.

Falkirk captain Scott McKenzie immediately ran towards the touchline to summon a doctor.

Keith was the more seriously injured, convulsing several times before being taken to the Inverclyde hospital. Collins also was taken the hospital where he had 12 stitches put in a wound to his temple.

Keith was last night recovering in the Southern General hospital.

Brockville manager Alex

Totten drove Keith's girlfriend to see him and said: ''I am so relieved for this was one of my worst moments in football.''

Keith had a brain scan and will be further examined today.

A number of the Falkirk players were in tears on the pitch as Keith was treated by two doctors.

Team-mate Peter Duffield said: ''A lot of the lads felt sick. This was the worst head clash I have seen. We would not have argued if the game had been stopped. It took us 15 to 20 minutes to get going again.''

Totten added: ''We got a terrible fright for he was knocked unconscious and took a convulsion. I have to give credit to my players and I think it says a lot about the character of the players we have at Brockville that they were able to recover and go on and play. We would have been relieved to have had the game stopped. I went straight to Inverclyde after the game and was so relieved to find that he was sitting up in bed and able to talk about the game.''

Falkirk were leading 1-0 when the accident happened - John Henry scoring with a shot which seemed to take a deflection off Own Archdeacon after 42 minutes - and it is to their credit that they managed to pick themselves up again and go on to record what was a convincing victory.

Brian Hamilton scored with a looping header after 76 minutes and he also had a hand in the third goal in the third minute of time added on by referee Steve Kaney when he beat the offside trap and found Henry. His shot was only half cleared and former Morton man Duffield was lurking to pick up the scraps.

Hamilton said: ''It was good to get on the scoresheet, but we all were given a really bad fright when we saw what had happened to Derek and Marino.

''Some of the boys were close to tears because Marino was just lying there not moving. A few of the players just had to walk away. It was a strange game after that.''

Morton manager Billy Stark felt his team gave their worst performance of the season after a bright start. He said: ''We seemed to start the game well and had a few efforts on goal. However, that was probably our worst of our season in every aspect of the game. It is difficult to pinpoint one particular thing because I think everything just went today.

''Obviously, we had to reshuffle in the second half, as did Falkirk, but the score was probably a true reflection on the game. We did not respond the way I would have liked after losing a goal just before the break, so I suppose we got what we deserved.''

New signing Keith Wright managed only 45 minutes on his debut. The former Raith Rovers striker tweaked a hamstring just before half-time.