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[Darren]

Heathcote condemns Wrexham crowd's reaction to Kearney injury
1:26pm Wednesday 10th March 2010



ALTRINCHAM emerged from two very difficult travelling assignments with fully deserved draws at AFC Wimbledon on Saturday and Wrexham on Tuesday night.

But it was a serious injury to Tom Kearney that was the focus of manager Graham Heathcote’s attention in the aftermath of a feisty encounter in North Wales.

With Wrexham leading 1-0, former Chelsea defender Frank Sinclair, was shown a red card for his challenge on the Altrincham captain just before the interval.

That lit the touch paper both on and off the field as emotions ran exceptionally high for the remainder of the game.

“People will have their own views on the challenge, but the reaction to applaud Frank Sinclair who has just been sent off, and boo Tom Kearney as he is carried off on a stretcher is, at best, unacceptable and a lot of people couldn’t believe what was happening.

"Our players were gone at half time and knowing that Tom had broken his leg meant that there was no enthusiasm for the second half. It is to their great credit that they performed so well and we were well worth a point.”

On Saturday, the Altrincham manager utilised the efforts of two young supporters to inspire his players to an excellent draw at AFC Wimbledon. Dan Martell, 21, and Niall Flynn, 18, cycled 235 miles over three days to raise funds for Altrincham Football Club and the Children’s Adventure Farm Trust.

Heathcote took the lads into the dressing room before the match and told his players “We want you to give your all for 90 minutes this afternoon....these lads have bust their guts on their bikes for three days to get here to support you.”

Altrincham are back at Moss Lane on Saturday when play-off contenders York City are the visitors for a 3pm kick off.