At the match against Manchester outfit, Abbey Hey, on Saturday which the Linnets won 5-2 thanks to four goals from Thomas Lamb, and one from Francis Barry, defender Neil Roberts received a blow to the head which caused him to be substituted in the 29th minute. Despite being in some discomfort shortly after the incident, it wasn’t until a short time later that club staff became increasingly concerned as Neil was unable to remember his name or date of birth. Neil was initially taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary, but was quickly taken to North Manchester Hospital where he was placed in Intensive Care, sedated, and underwent tests.

Attempts on Sunday to bring him out of sedation were unsuccessful, primarily due to an adverse reaction to the sedatives, and it wasn’t until Monday that he was successfully brought out of sedation and moved to the High Dependency Unit. Fortunately, encouraging signs were starting to appear at this point as Neil was able to remember most of the events of Saturday.

On Wednesday, Neil was discharged from hospital and is currently at home with his family. He has a slight chest infection, but apart from that is well on the road to recovery, much to the relief and delight of the club’s board and all its fans who all wish him a full and speedy recovery.

While Neil was being rushed to Intensive Care on Saturday night, one lucky Runcorn Linnets Tote player was being informed of their record win on that week’s Tote. Matt Reid of Lusk, Ireland, originally of Frodsham, was the lucky winner of £1,259.50 by successfully predicting the first two numbers of the National Lottery draw would be 33 and 42. Matt is an online player of the Tote, which means that he makes his selections and payment via the club’s website at www.RuncornLinnetsFC.co.uk/Tote. Matt will be presented with his cheque when he comes over for the Linnets’ next match which is a week on Saturday on the 15th December, at Wincham Park, against Bacup Borough following the postponement of the scheduled match against Formby, originally scheduled to be played on the 8th December.