Mark Gallagher is back after his frightening face injury. Picture: Bob Crombie
Midfielder returns to starting line up and determined to make up for lost time
Mark Gallagher admits the hours after his cheekbone was broken and dislocated and his eye socket cracked, were scary.
However, after seven weeks and seven games out, the midfielder has started the last two games.
It was in the 0-0 draw at Clyde on August 30 that Gall suffered the horrendous injury after a normal coming together with a Clyde opponent.
“I flicked the ball on and he headed my head, and my cheekbone just went in,” he recalled.
“I was obviously in pain, but I thought it was just a head knock. I got up and continued and felt my face, there was a big dent in my face. I played on for a good three minutes, and then realised that it was throbbing pain, I couldn’t open my mouth, and I was dizzy and feeling sick.”
Michael Allan, Supporter Liaison Officer and a member of the club’s media team, travels to every away game and he volunteered to drive the player to Aberdeen, where he stays, for assessment.
“He was meant to take me to Aberdeen, but I couldn’t make it because I felt like I was going to be sick. So we stopped at Ninewells (in Dundee), and I was there for a good five hours.
“My mum came down from Aberdeen to see me, and looked after me. They gave me pain relief and checked me over and did the x-rays, and then I saw a specialist.
“I was a bit worried that I was going to be stuck like that for the rest of my life. I got to the hospital and I was like, ‘Is it going to get fixed? I’m in trouble here, but no. It looks exactly the same now. You wouldn’t even notice I’d done it.”
It was about 10 days before Mark could get an operation in Aberdeen to repair the damage as the swelling had to come down first.
“My jaw was clicking. I couldn’t open my mouth very wide for a few weeks. The first week was really sore, to be honest.
“I was on a soft food diet. I could hardly open my mouth. At night time, it was throbbing pain inside of my head.
I couldn’t lie on that side either when I slept but I was given strong painkillers, so it was alright.”
The operation itself was just 45 minutes.
Added Gall: “They actually cut into my head, which is surprising, I thought they’d go through my cheekbone. They went in through my head and pulled my cheekbone back into place.”
For the first three weeks after the procedure, Gall was restricted to walking only and then he hit the treadmill to maintain his fitness ahead of his return to action at East Kilbride on October 18, a 3-0 defeat.
Gall was at the heart of the midfield as City secured a place in the third round of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup with a 2-1 win over Highland League Deveronvale last Saturday when they needed a 90+1 goal from Ryan Sargent to win the game, after playing the last half hour with 10 men following Ally Spalding’s second yellow card..
“I think we played pretty well. You look at the first half, the chances we had to score, we could have been three or four-nil up. It was their ‘cup final’ and then we went a man down. We showed good character to go and score. We weren’t sitting back. We were trying to go and get more goals.
“They scored, which gave them a lift. A lot of teams might have crumbled at that point but we came back, got the winner, deservedly, and are through to the next round.”
With just two defeats in the last 11 games – against Spartans and East Kilbride – Gall says performances have been pretty good in the main.
“Most games we’re coming off disappointed with the draw, disappointed to lose. That’s kind of been the theme of the season so far, really.
“We’re not putting teams away when we’re on top. Hopefully, we can start from this weekend, put on a good run, and build on the game from Saturday.”
And Mark’s initial worries over the injury and putting his head in where it potentially might hurt are not a concern.
“I don’t really do that many headers, to be honest,” he joked, “but I did like three or four on Saturday and didn’t notice it, so I’m all good now.”
And with it being the Halloween season, Gall was asked if he considered wearing a fashionable sports mask on his return.
“I think the Premier League players get the expensive ones. So I’m pretty sure I’d have a Halloween one. I did think about it, but no, I didn’t have to wear one, thankfully.”
