The Bulls’ last away win came
when the Vikings still ruled the roost in York - at least it certainly feels
that way. Performance-wise, the high water mark recently has been the 2-0 loss
at Alfreton, and you know things are bad, really very bad indeed, when that’s
the case.
As likeable as Josh Gowling is, and I'd love him to succeed, his appointment has unfortunately
done precisely nothing so far to reverse the pattern that plagued both the
Harris/Richards and Slade tenures: drawing at home and losing away. If that
0.5-points-per-game average continues, and Blyth pick up a win or two, alarm
bells will start ringing. It’s very, very hard to get relegated from National
League North this season, but the club is doing everything to give it a good
go. There are a depressingly large number of games still to go, and relatively
good performances in defeat to clubs such as Alfreton won’t be enough, and
won’t be acceptable, if indeed they ever were, which they weren’t.
Jordan Cullinane-Liburd starts
a three-match suspension following Saturday’s ‘entanglement’ and therefore
misses this one, but Martin Riley returns from injury as a like-for-like
replacement, and his experience could be invaluable here in what’s likely to be
something of a backs-to-the-wall exercise at times. Unfortunately Ben Pollock
is still suspended, as he could, like Riley, have been just the sort of player
for this kind of game, breaking up the hosts’ attacks before they get in behind
the defence. A fit Kieran Thomas will presumably fulfil that role instead. The
Shop looks like a good signing, and now has 90 minutes in his legs, although
there’s a chance he’ll be feeding on scraps here as York get their tents out
and camp in the Hereford half. Yep, that's right, I got through a sentence about The Shop without a pun, right there.
York have been in the top two
all season, and a recent 4-2 win at home to Chester looks ominous. If they turn
up to this one in the same mood it could be embarrassing. However, the Bulls
gave a good account of themselves in the 2-2 draw between these two sides at
Edgar Street earlier this season, and a similarly motivated performance could
result in defeat somehow being avoided. It would, however, also beg the
question of why such motivation can’t be dredged up for home matches against
Bradford, Southport, Curzon Ashton and many others, matches the club really
should be winning not drawing. The icing on that particular cake of gloom is
that the draws have often been salvage jobs rather than unluckily getting pegged back, with Hereford having been outplayed by
clubs among the very worst this division has to offer.
The hosts are strong all over
the pitch but recently bolstered their squad in a bid to overhaul leaders Kings
Lynn by signing talented forward Kurt Willoughby on loan from Fylde. The
England C international scored twice in that victory over Chester, and his
partnership up front with 14-goal man Jordan Burrow looks formidable.
Storm Dennis may have a
deciding say in whether this match actually goes ahead, and it looks unlikely
at this point. If it is given the go-ahead and you’re not actually travelling
north, this looks like one to follow from behind the sofa.
COYW