FOOTBALL UNITED

Players, fans and rivals spare thoughts for Tom

PHILIP BILLING was the first to react. 

The Bournemouth substitute was already frantically waving his arms in the direction of the dugouts as he ran, even before he had crouched down over his fallen opponent, Tom Lockyer, lying prone on the turf.

Billing’s team-mate Dominic Solanke joined him, then Lockyer’s fellow Luton players as medical staff and Hatters manager Rob Edwards all rushed onto the field.

What unfolded over the following half an hour was one of those queasy emotional roller coasters, familiar to anyone unfortunate enough to witness serious life-threatening incidents played out in front of them.