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Following the disappointment of Tuesday night’s defeat at home to an admirably up-for-it Telford, Hereford FC can quickly get back on track on Saturday as they host King’s Lynn.
This fixture last season was won at a canter by the East Anglians, and offered early evidence that Hereford’s summer transfer activity had delivered a bottom six squad rather than a play-off one. The contrast to this summer’s wheeling and dealing and the resultant top-of-the-table start couldn’t be starker.
Of course, everything anyone wants to talk about in the build-up to this game revolves around the return of one man, and one man alone. Yes indeed ladies and gentlemen, Harley Hamilton is back at Edgar Street.
Hamilton looked like a decent prospect in his brief time at Hereford, but he ended up departing in the summer to join his former boss in Norfolk, and in terms of league table positions at least, he hasn’t been missed.
Another threat is ex-Scunthorpe and Chorley Carlton Ubaezuona. He’s got five goals this season in not that many minutes played, including a hat-trick against Telford – why weren’t THAT version of the Telford defence at Edgar Street on Tuesday night?!
Both players came on as subs at Worksop on Tuesday, where the Linnets got hammered 5-0, and given the outcome there they may get starts here.
Top scorer for them is Jesse Nwabueze with six goals. The ex-Ipswich youngster looks to be quite a find, and unlike Ubaezuona is more-or-less a guaranteed starter.
Ex-Bulls assistant boss Adam Rooney is still lacing up his boots (although I guess they just slip on these days) at 38 and was an unused sub on Tuesday.
Pulling the strings for them in midfield is another ex-Scunthorpe player, and club captain, Michael Clunan, who has spent his entire career at clubs on the east coast.
They look like a solid side and had been going well before that midweek thrashing.
The Bulls didn’t turn up until the second half on Tuesday. Manager Aaron Downes has admitted that he got things wrong tactically with a lack of width, and Luke Spokes’ honest and articulate appraisal after the match was absolutely on the money. His own personal performance mirrored that of the team, in that he was a passenger in the first half before returning to his sparkling best after the break, and was very unlucky not to score.
12 players in that first half were playing with the intensity and desire you’d expect, with only Harry Tustin, of those 12, representing Hereford. It wasn’t anything like the performance of a table-topping side; much more reminiscent in fact of the first half of last season.
However, it’s readily apparent that everyone realises all of the above, and an appropriate reaction here against a side reeling from that 5-0 loss at Worksop should set things straight, if this Hereford squad is indeed top-7 material.
Fin Holmes could offer some of that width that was lacking on Tuesday, although Aaron Skinner was creative in the second half when pushing on, so maybe wing backs could be the way to go. Whoever delivers it, width is needed, rather than messy congested pinball in the middle of the pitch.
Billy Phillips looked very wobbly when coming off against Telford, but the consensus seems to be that it was an impact knock and therefore nothing to worry about unduly. If this comes too soon for him, it could be a good opportunity to unleash Kam Muir from the start. In fact it might be a good opportunity to do that regardless.
Harrison Iwunze didn’t score on Tuesday so he will score here.
The unadulterated barnstorming will-to-win in evidence against South Shields, and that Telford demonstrated against Hereford, needs to return here for the whole 90 minutes.
It’s a slightly odd feeling at the moment – before a ball was kicked this season no Bulls supporter would have turned down second in the table averaging two points a game after 13 games, especially after last season. It’s just that those two recent 1-0 home losses, and four points from the last four games, have put a slight dampener on things, and could take 500 off the gate here. A front-foot performance and a win here will rectify that though.
Oh and a cheeky fiver on the Kings Lynn manager getting a yellow or even red card may not be a bad investment.
COYW
