Hayes & Yeading United's fans have been praised for the responsible manner in which they reacted to a nasty injury which saw an opposition player hospitalised yesterday.

United's Southern Premier match against fellow strugglers Dorchester Town was halted when visiting defender Nathan Walker collided with his own keeper and a Hayes player.

The seriousness of the injury was immediately evident, with the home fans patient as the game was held up for 50 minutes while an ambulance was awaited to take the stricken player away.

Worying: Walker lies injured as a team-mate checks on him

United's followers then applauded Walker and sung his name as he was loaded into the ambulance, leading to tweets of thanks from Dorchester followers, including the player's own brother.

Once play resumed, Hayes were unable to turn around a 2-1 deficit, having equalised through Sam Humphreys after falling behind, allowing Dorchester to leapfrog them in the table and slipping to 19th.

They will be looking to bounce back at Redditch United on Saturday, before which they host Hanwell Town in the League Cup tomorrow night, at Beaconsfield SYCOB.

Off to hospital: An ambulance arrives