Weledji injury blow puts dampener on Scarborough Athletic's pre-season win at Garforth

INJURY BLOW: New signing Kieran Weledji suffered a blow in his Boro debut
PICTURE: WILL PALMER — INJURY BLOW: New signing Kieran Weledji suffered a blow in his Boro debut PICTURE: WILL PALMER

Goals from Nathan Cartman, captain Michael Coulson and triallist Brandon Smalley guided Boro to a 3-1 victory under the watchful eye of player-coach David Brown in the absence of boss Darren Kelly.

Boro led 1-0 thanks to Cartman’s long-range effort with 12 minutes on the clock before skipper Coulson tapped-in to double their lead just a minute later.

Weledji was forced off the field after 21 minutes, replaced by the returning James Cadman.

A superb finish from Smalley on 57 minutes made it 3-0 before Garforth grabbed a consolation goal to wrap things up at 3-1.

Weledji confirmed news of his injury blow via Twitter on Wednesday morning.

“Woke up this morning after a long night in A & E and reality has began to settle in.. I have ruptured my achilles tendon and im awaiting Ortho review. Absolutely gutted is an understatement, especially in my first @safc game as well! Thank you for all the kind messages,” the defender Tweeted.

Coach David Brown was impressed by the start his side made to the encounter, but admits the injury blow to Weledji halted their momentum.

“We made a really fast start and raced out of the blocks,” said Brown.

“Cartman and Coulson linked up really well and there were good performances all over the park from the players.

“Cartman took his goal really well and we were 2-0 up pretty soon after, but the injury to Kieran killed our momentum after that.

“It was a fairly typical pre-season match really, especially in the second half when a lot of subs were coming on.”

Boro had a couple of goals disallowed during their 3-1 win, but Brown admitted their hosts should’ve been awarded a couple of penalties too.

He added: “Coulson and Cartman had goals ruled out fairly dubiously, but they should’ve had a couple of pens at the other end so it evens itself out over the course of the 90 minutes.”

Boro will be without the injured Weledji and Josh Barrett, who is unavailable, for their second pre-season outing against Yorkshire Amateur on Saturday.