Top striker goes into temporary retirement

MATT FALLA has given up football - for the rest of the year at least. The Vale Rec and island striker has gone into temporary retirement in a desperate final attempt to shrug off his lengthy injury nightmare.

Falla and Vale manager Ray Blondel have agreed that the player should take a break from football and focus on returning to fitness early in 2004.

'Basically I've pencilled in next year to come back,' said Falla. 'I fear that if I play before that, I could do lasting damage.'

Falla has suffered a series of major injuries, most notably to both ankles, in recent years.

He broke his right ankle in November last year while playing for Guernsey against Devon. Just days after making his comeback in March, he broke his left ankle in a Jackson League match.

'I had a lot of physiotherapy on the ankle over a long period, had a rest over the summer and came back to pre-season training raring to go.

'I felt okay for a while, but the hard ground soon had an effect and it was obvious that my left ankle wasn't strong enough yet. My right one is fine, though.'

Falla said that the thought of retiring permanently had crossed his mind 'quite a few times lately'.

'Every time I come back it seems to happen again. But I'm a bit young to call it a day. Hopefully taking six months out will do me some good.'

Blondel said that his star striker was depressed about his latest setback, but backed him to recover and re-emerge as the island's top forward in the long term.

And Blondel revealed that Falla, 26, hoped to start a rehabilitation course at Colin Fallaize's Fitness Factory to strengthen his ankle joints sufficiently to enable him to play at the top level of local football, at least for another couple of years.

'It's definitely very frustrating at the moment,' said Falla. 'I haven't been properly fit for a long time, but I have to thank Ray for all his support and understanding over this.'

Vale have also been hit with an injury to Craig Tyrrell, another highly-rated forward, in the early weeks of the campaign.

'His is a foot problem and he's seeing an orthopaedic surgeon. He seems to be okay until he kicks a ball with force,' said Blondel.

'It's almost like when you go to kick a ball and hit the ground with your foot. It seems to be like that every time Craig kicks a ball.'

On the positive side, Blondel expects midfielder Jon Baudains to return soon after shrugging off a hamstring injury that has kept him out of Vale's opening four matches.

And Blondel said that new signing Ben Driver, nominally the replacement for the departed Tristram Morgan, was 'raring to go' once his suspension ends on Wednesday.