A TEENAGE footballer told a court yesterday how he was left in agony by a two-footed tackle from an opponent – who then stamped on his broken ankle as he lay on the pitch.

Jonathan Carroll, 19, screamed in agony and almost passed out after the challenge from Mark Ward as their teams contested a Sunday morning match last summer.

Mr Carroll told a jury he felt like vomiting after his broken right ankle was stamped on.

The left-midfielder described the tackle as “a twofooted lunge” and said he was sent flying into the air, shortly after his under-18s team took an early two-goal lead.

Mr Ward, 23, is now facing charges of causing grievous bodily harm and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and is on trial this week at Teesside Crown Court.

He claims the first challenge was fair and not malicious, but accepts it probably caused the broken ankle, and denies he stamped on Mr Carroll’s leg.

The court heard that Mr Carroll, then aged 18, was dribbling down the left touchline in his own half and had just passed to his striker when Mr Ward slid in.

Mr Carroll told the jury that Mr Ward sneered at him and called him an obscene name before walking past him and stamping on his ankle.

The incident happened after Marton U18s took an early 2-0 lead against Whale Hill, at Eston Sports Academy, near Middlesbrough, on June 8.

Mr Carroll, who was carried from the pitch and taken to hospital, has had three operations and awaits a fourth, and has not played football since, the court heard.

Describing the tackle yesterday, he said: “It was really fast and it came in from just behind me, at the side, and it was a two-footed tackle. The player lunged in with both feet.

“It was like a full sprint going straight through me.

“There was just pain, it was unbearable, it was numb and sharp both at the same time.

“I knew my ankle was broken.

I had no control over it. It was unstable. It was just moving from side to side.”

The break – affecting both sides of the joint as well as tendons and ligaments – required a plate to be fixed with screws, some of which have been removed.

Mr Ward, of St Mary’s Court, Middlesbrough, was arrested and admitted to police the tackle had been hard, but said that it was all part of the game.

It is alleged that moments before the tackle, Mr Ward swore at an opponent after they clashed in a challenge and warned him: “Do that again and I will f***ing break your leg.”

Under cross-examination from Duncan McReddie, mitigating, Mr Carroll denied he made up the stamping allegation.

Mr McReddie suggested the teenager made no reference to a follow-up assault until much later, but Mr Carroll said he told Whale Hill supporters immediately.

He said other rival spectators and opponents also swore at him as he lay in agony on the pitch, calling him a cheat and demanding he get up.

The trial continues today.