This brings us to Saturday’s
game at Curzon Ashton, kick off 3pm. The Nash have found life tough so far this
season, and sit just a place above the relegation zone. Their cause has been
helped recently though with back-to-back wins against Telford and,
surprisingly, York in the league and Kidderminster in the Trophy. Last time out
they drew 0-0 with Kettering.
In a struggling team Sean Millar has done well to
score six goals so far this season, more of course than any Hereford player. However,
if the Bulls can continue with Tuesday’s levels of motivation and energy in the
modest surroundings of the Tameside Stadium, things should start looking up.
In front of Hall, the defence
is looking a good deal more balanced with Danny Greenslade back. Stephen Dawson
got through 90 minutes following his recent absence and was again the team’s lynchpin,
and Jordan Nicholson seems to have ctrl-alt-deleted himself and the rebooted
version looks like the lively threat of a few months back. He looks ready to get back among the goals, and goodness knows someone needs to.
Last season Beadle’s Bulls won
this fixture 1-0 to give the club seven points from their opening three games.
The wheels soon fell off after that bright start of course, and in the return
fixture at Edgar Street Marc Richards masterminded a toothless performance,
with the aforementioned Sean Millar netting a late winner in a 2-1 win for the
Nash and a real low point in the season.
It’s been over two months since
that last win against Leamington. Since then the club has been knocked out of
the Cup and the Trophy, and put in some really sub-standard performances. That
said, given that
Curzon struggled last season and the one before that, and don’t look like they’ll
be troubling the top half of the table this season either, this certainly looks
to be one to be optimistic about, even taking into account the hosts’ recent
upturn in form. One of the weaknesses of the club under Marc Richards was an
inability to beat the poorer teams. It would be a sign of progress if under
Russell Slade this habit became a thing of the past. Talking of his impact, OK results haven't exactly gone to plan so far but introducing the tactic of using the corner flag as a twelfth man is an innovative masterstroke. It would be good to see it in evidence again on Saturday. A win could see the Bulls leap back into the top ten, poised to strike fear into everyone else as everything finally clicks.
So, all in
all a great opportunity to get back to winning ways,
go into the festive fixtures with a boost, and kick start the season.
COYW