BASINGSTOKE Town fans held their breath on Monday night after debutant goalkeeper Chay Morris suffered a serious injury that led to the game against Maidenhead United being abandoned.

The injury to the former Wycombe shot-stopper, who was making his first appearance for Town resulted in an ambulance being called to The Camrose, and play being abandoned with the scores level at 1-1 and 56 minutes on the clock.

It was initially feared that Morris had suffered damage to his spine or neck in an accidental collision with Maidenhead’s Ashley Smith.

With blood coming from his ear, Basingstoke’s medical team decided not to move him until the paramedics arrived.

Maidenhead fans, stood behind the goal Morris was defending, kindly donated their coats to keep the stricken ’keeper warm while he waited for the ambulance, which took him to Basingstoke hospital.

On arrival there, an x-ray thankfully showed that Morris had not suffered any spinal or neck injuries.

However, he had sustained a bad cut in his inner ear and it was feared that he may need an operation to avoid his balance and hearing being affected.

Morris was transferred to Charing Cross Hospital in London on Tuesday.

Specialists there happily decided that an operation would not be necessary, and he was released later the same day.

Morris will be out of action for a couple of weeks – but Town boss Frank Gray is relieved the injury is not any worse.

“It did not look great on the night, and all we could do was hope for the best outcome, which is what we have got,” Gray said.

“The main thing is that he is okay. He did quite well with what he was asked to do, and it was a brave challenge that saw him get injured. It was just disappointing that his debut ended the way it did.”

See Thursday's Gazette for a full report from Monday's game.