Haverhill Rovers and West Wratting play out a 3-3 draw in fund-raising friendly for injured player Ashley Botten

Haverhill Rovers and West Wratting played out an entertaining 3-3 draw in a fund-raising friendly last Wednesday.

The two clubs faced each other in a rare meeting at the JR Crane Services Hub, The New Croft which was put on to support injured Wratting player Ashley Botten.

The former Haverhill Borough man suffered a double leg break while playing for the Wratts away at Huntingdon United, in the Cambridgeshire County League CSI Premier Division on February 4.

Back in November last year Botten suffered a fracture to his ankle after a poor tackle in a game against title rivals Cambridge University Press.

He made his return to the pitch in January and featured off the bench in a Kershaw Premier League Knockout Cup game at Huntingdon.

The two sides met again the following week in the Premier Division, with ‘Botty’ making his first start since his ankle injury, but another awful challenge saw him suffer a double leg break.

The fund-raising friendly last week aimed to bring the community together to help raise money for the injured player, who is unable to work for the foreseeable future.

The night was a huge success and raised more than £1,000 for Botten.

With the help of local business KiiWii Clothing and Promotions Limited, the clubs were able to provide the players with warm-up T-shirts dedicated to Botten.

The Rovers Under-13s Silver team had a fantastic night as mascots and had the opportunity to play on the main pitch, as well as walk out with the first-team players and be involved in the handshakes at the beginning of the game.

Although two divisions separate Rovers and Wratting, the two sides could not be split after 90 minutes in a 3-3 draw which was played in a good spirit.

It was a fair result given both teams were made up of a mixture of players and the aim of the night was to raise money, with the fixture attracting a crowd of more than 200.

The clubs wished to thank everybody involved in a successful fund-raising event, including the many volunteers and sponsors.