A HADDINGTON footballer is recovering at home after suffering a serious injury – sustained while deputising as a goalkeeper for the first time in his career.

Declan Quinn dislocated his hip when he dived to make a save in the closing stages of Haddington Athletic’s 3-1 Alex Jack Cup win at Ormiston on Saturday.

The 23-year-old, normally a striker, was asked by player/manager Joe Hamill to don the gloves after regular keeper Sinclair Inglis was sent off.

Declan – who had earlier scored his side’s third goal – found himself with little to do between the sticks until he went to collect a loose ball in the game’s closing stages.

He told the Courier: “I went down on the ball and [my hip] just went. I stood up and the referee blew the full-time whistle – then the pain hit and I collapsed.

“The Ormiston physio was over straight away and they called an ambulance – the gaffer [Hamill] wouldn’t let me look at it but he kept just saying, ‘you’ll be fine’.”

There was then a wait of almost an hour before Declan, a labourer, could be taken by ambulance to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

He added: “I’d gone into shock and my blood pressure dropped really low so when I got to hospital they took me straight to resuscitation until they sorted out my blood pressure. I was in hospital for a good six-and-a-half hours and I got out about 12.30am on Sunday.”

Meanwhile, his wife Ashlie thought someone was pulling her leg when she was contacted by a club official.

Declan said: “Someone phoned her and she thought they were taking the mickey.

“Once she realised they weren’t, it was all a bit frantic until she got to the hospital.”

The striker – who has also played for Preston Athletic, Ormiston and amateur side East Lothian Thistle – is now bed-bound at his Market Street home in Haddington.

“It’s a bit of a nightmare – I want to get out for some fresh air but I can’t really do anything,” Declan said.

“The pain is just too much.”

Declan drew the short straw when asked by boss Hamill, formerly of Hearts, to take the goalkeepers’ gloves, with Haddington having made all three of their replacements.

“I was nearest the gaffer and he just asked me to go in goal,” he said. “I think he picked me because I’m quite tall.”

When asked about the prospect of going in goal again, he said: “It was 100 per cent a one-off – never again!”

Boss Hamill told the Courier: “It is a real shame for him because he’s been flying at the start of this season and now he’ll be out for a while.

“I’m sure when he’s back fit he’ll pick up where he left off but it’s a blow for Declan, and for us.”

He also gave his account of the event, saying: “I saw him lying on the ground and I actually thought he was stretching – I walked by him to give my post-match talk.

“I was going in and saw he was still down so I went over and that’s when I saw it. His hip was sticking out and that’s when I realised it was serious.”

Declan is expected to be back in action in about 10 weeks’ time.