What’s the last thing you’d want on a freezing cold night playing at home to Mansfield Town in League Two? A swift kick in the face from an opponent’s football boot has to be towards the top of the list.
Unfortunately for Forest Green Rovers goalkeeper James Montgomery, that’s exactly what he got on Tuesday night as his side drew 1-1 at The New Lawn, though he was unable to see the rest of the game out.
In the 60th minute, youngster Lewis Ward replaced Montgomery after he was caught in the face by the boot of Gethin Jones in a goalmouth scramble early on in the second half, with his team a goal down at the time.
While he may not have lost another goal during the scramble, Montgomery did lose some of his teeth following the nasty collision, which saw him leave the pitch with his face in a bloodied mess.
"That'll interfere with his good looks for a while," Forest Green manager Mark Cooper told the BBC after the game.
"He's got a large facial wound, an horrendous cut on his lip and he's missing a few teeth.
"He'll need some work done and is off to hospital to get some treatment, so we'll see how he goes in terms of how long he'll be out of action."
Montgomery then took to Twitter to tell fans he was okay, saying: "On way to hospital, setting up a just giving page if anyone wants to help me pay for my new teeth.. good point and well done to the lads on coming back from behind!
"You should see the other lad!!"
His team actually responded well in his absence, fighting back from a goal down to draw 1-1 thanks to an equaliser in the 70th minute from striker Reuben Reid, who cancelled out Jorge Grant’s opener in the first quarter of an hour.
Forest Green boss Cooper added: "He looks like he's been in a motorbike accident.
"His face is horrendous. He's got a massive piece of his lip missing and teeth knocked out and he'll be going off to hospital, I don't thing they'll be able to treat him here."
It was a huge game for both teams in League Two, with both currently in position to achieve automatic promotion to League One come the end of the season.
Mansfield are currently sat second in the table, with Forest Green fourth after the draw last night, with four points still separating the two teams after the stalemate, with Bury sandwiched between them in third.
Reading loanee Ward looks set to have a prolonged spell in the first team after Montgomery’s injury, with Tuesday’s fixture being his first league appearance for the club.
