9:37am Friday 1st August 2008
By Arran Jolly
KENDAL Town manager Lee Ashcroft and Barrow boss Dave Bayliss have backed Callum Warburton after his tackle left Barrow's Lee Woodyatt with a horrific leg injury.
The incident came during the closing five minutes of Kendal Town's pre-season friendly to Barrow, with Town leading 3-2 but the game was abandoned due to the severity of the injury.
Town boss Ashcroft spoke out in defence of his player saying: "That's football - he's gone in to win the ball. It might have been a bit aggressive but he'll make 30 or 40 of those a season, it's just massively unfortunate that Lee has broken his leg.
“Callum is gutted and so am I. It's ruined a great game of football, but hopefully with the surgeons around today he'll make a quick recovery."
While Warburton's firm tackle showed no hint of malice, it infuriated the majority of the travelling Barrow contingent.
However, Bayliss defended the Kendal Town man, even after the news that his defender had suffered a double leg break and dislocated ankle.
He went on record as saying: "I know a lot of the Barrow fans on Saturday weren't happy with the tackle, but from our point of view there was nothing malicious in it. I spoke to the lad (Warburton) afterwards and he was devastated, even 'Woody' said there was nothing dirty about the tackle."
In brilliant sunshine at Parkside Road ground, both sides attacked from the outset in a fast-paced game.
Barrow struck after six minutes, Jason Walker intercepting a loose pass in the Town defence and angling a well-placed shot across keeper David Newnes into the left-hand corner of the net.
However, Kendal looked to be faring better in the heat and were unlucky not to score in the 16th minute as centre-back Tony Hallam rattled the crossbar with a rasping shot from just outside the area.
Kendal continued to impress, creating several sweeping one-touch moves and their reward came after 20 minutes.
Gareth Arnison collected Craig Hobson's squared pass with his back to goal and turned neatly to fire inside the left-hand post, beating the outstretched Tim Deacey.
As the frantic pace continued Town full back Jimmy Williams made a goal-line clearance for Town after Barrow had beaten the offside trap.
Kendal increasingly looked to have the measure of their lacklustre opponents in the second half, with Alex Taylor joining the attack and Carl Osman and Lee Mulvaney looking lively down the flanks.
However, Barrow again struck against the run of play, with Lee Hunt again capitalising on some sloppy defending before bending a 20-yard shot around David Newnes into the corner of the net to give Barrow a 2-1 lead.
Changes followed from the bench as Ashcroft introduced himself to the action and Barrow rang the changes with young goalkeeper Aaron Taylor replacing Deacey.
It gave Kendal new impetus and they were back on level terms after 72 minutes.
Good close-quarter dribbling and awareness in the box from Taylor left Ashcroft in the clear to poke the ball home past the oncoming keeper.
Six minutes later, Kendal took a deserved 3-2 lead in the move of the match.
Ian Kilford won a midfield challenge and his measured pass found Taylor deep in the opposition half. Under pressure, Taylor cleverly feigned to shoot, but instead stroked an inch-perfect pass forward to Osman, who ran into the box and finished coolly, drawing the keeper before lifting the ball over him.
Town's high work-rate and tempo had been outstanding and they were playing neat possession football when Woodyatt's injury cast a shadow over an otherwise entertaining afternoon.
Team: Newnes, Williams, Wisdom, Hallam, Forbes, Baker, Osman, Hobson, Arnison, Kilford, Mulvaney, Subs: Alex Taylor (49) Lee Ashcroft (62) Calum Warburton (67) Zach Clark (76), George Melling (78).
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