NOTHING was going to stop a 12-year-old boy from playing in his first cup final for Runcorn Linnets Junior Football Club – not even a broken collarbone!

The Heath School pupil Aaron Coxon played a key role in Linnets under 13s Sunday Blue team’s 2-1 victory over Penninsula Lions in the Chester and District JFL’s Knockout Cup final despite snapping his clavicle the day before.

The extent of his injury was revealed by an X-ray taken at Halton Hospital hours after the team lifted the cup at Chester FC’s Swansway Stadium on Sunday May 13.

Aaron broke the bone after slipping from handlebars at Runcorn’s Heath Park while playing with friends the night before.

He was also knocked unconscious that day when he clashed heads with a defender while playing for his other football team, Bridge Park Rangers (BPR).

But wild horses would not have kept him away from the big game on the pristine pitch in Chester.

Striker Aaron said: “It is my first season playing for the Linnets Sunday team and I was really looking forward to the final.

“I was worried about having to miss it after being knocked out and then having a fall at Heath Park and hurting my shoulder on the Saturday.

“But I was determined to play in the game so I braved the pain in my shoulder and tried my best to help the team win.”

With Aaron visibly struggling due to the shoulder injury midway through the second half, he was substituted by manager Kev Lampkin.

Kev said: “Aaron told me and his parents that he had bruised his shoulder in his fall at the park but was fine to play in the cup final.

“He made a big contribution to our win, including helping to set up our first goal.

“But in the second half he was clearly struggling. He didn’t want to come off but I told him that he had to.

“Once he had been substituted one of our coaches, Pete Smith, who is a paramedic, had a look at his shoulder and told me that it might be broken.

“Pete made him a sling with the equipment in his medi bag and we told Aaron that he would have to sit out the rest of the game.

“When the final whistle was blown Aaron sprinted onto the pitch to celebrate the victory with his teammates.

“He didn’t let his injury stop him from enjoying the trophy presentation and the champagne spraying celebrations, but his parents took him straight to the hospital once we had all walked out of the stadium.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw the X-ray and the extent of Aaron’s injury. But he is as brave and determined as they come, which are twom of the things that make him such a great player.”

Aaron is now waiting to hear if he needs an operation to straighten the snapped bone.

Either way, he will be unable to play a part in the remainder of the football season – and Linnets’ bid to complete a league and cup double.

He has also had to postpone his bid to run 26.2 miles, the equivalent of the London Marathon, to raise money for Halton Haven Hospice.

The Halton and Frodsham Harriers cross country runner was aiming to complete the challenge by the end of the month by running two kilometres a day.

Aaron said: “As soon as the doctors give me the all clear to resume running again I will complete the challenge. My friend Calumn Myers and I are determined to raise £1,000 between us for Halton Haven, me through running and him through swimming 21 miles, which is the length of the English Channel.”

To make a donation to the charity challenge visitjustgiving.com/fundraising/emma-myers4.