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There were sure signs on Saturday of the influence on the performance of fewer computer programs and more instinct, passion, blood, guts and thunder. OK, not really blood thankfully, and thunder’s useless in trying to win a football match. Instinct, passion and guts then. And two forwards. And ‘the diamond’. Well played Josh Gowling.
Huge credit too to the 2000 who turned up. Bulls supporters have been admirably loyal and have stuck with it over a grim last couple of months, and Saturday’s attendance alone represents 2000 good reasons why it would be right and proper to have some sort of clarity on how a club with such a good following at this level is losing so much money. This sort of thing is entry-level transparency and basic PR for a club that doesn’t sell itself as ‘supporter-led’. For one that does, when it suits, like Hereford FC, it should be second nature.
Anyway, all of that instinct, passion and guts (which admittedly sounds like a messy Friday night in and outside the Kerry back in the day) on Saturday resulted in a win to stop the rot and a collective huge sigh of relief, and now what’s needed is another strong performance, which, one would hope, should naturally lead to another win.
However, and there’s always one of those, the Bulls have only won two league matches in a row twice this season, and have too often lacked consistency over the last two years. This looks like a golden opportunity to start putting that right. 29 points have been earned from the first 23 games. Something like 45 will be needed from the final 23 to earn a play-off place. That would be quite an upturn, but not impossible in a wacko division in which only Fylde currently are finding any bulldozing form. A win here would put the club well within ten points of the play-offs with virtually half the season left. It’s then Gloucester and Buxton away (like, in separate matches, they haven’t formed an unlikely merged franchise). Neither of those clubs are in any sort of form at all, so a burgeoning winning habit from the Bulls would keep hopes alive, but any return to that all-too-familiar inconsistency and dropped-points scenario will mean that the season’s realistically over by the end of the month, apart from the possibility of excitingly attempting to get out of the division southwards. January, then, is **** or bust, a phrase I’ve never, ever understood, given that neither option seems to be anything to get excited about. I assume it’s been imported from America, which explains its meaninglessness.
There’s also a temptation to believe that in the second half of the season it should be high time Lady Luck looked down on the team in black and white (and red) more benevolently than has been the case since August. When will it be our turn to benefit from some of the absolutely bonkers decision-making of National League North referees? When will a shot destined for the Coop on College Road ricochet off a defender and find the opposition’s net instead? When will some of the opposing team’s time-wasting result in two yellow cards and an early bath for someone? When will the coaching staff stop injuring the players in training? How long would it take Kidderminster’s goalie to get into an early bath, and by the time he had would it then be a late bath? OK, that’s not so much about luck and more about rampant, unchecked-by-refs cynical cheating, but it would be remiss of me not mention it as it’s the sort of thing that pollutes the NLN like poultry farm effluent into the Wye.
Last season Farsley finished second bottom, just two points clear of relegated Guiseley.
Star striker Jimmy Spencer has struggled to get going this season with just four goals to date, which either means he’s hopelessly out of touch and is nothing to worry about or is due a hat-trick which will duly arrive here.
The Celts lost to a single late goal on Saturday at Alfreton, which doesn’t look like a particularly good result on paper, and probably didn’t look too great on grass either. This brought to an end a recent upturn in form for Tuesday’s visitors, which saw them enjoy a four-match unbeaten run. Their festive double-header with neighbours Bradford Park Avenue produced two draws, which is obviously nothing to get too worried about, but a 2-0 home win against Kings Lynn before that suggests that they’re no mugs.
However, they’re third from bottom, they’ve lost four of their last seven games despite that recent upturn, and they’ve won just two of their 11 away matches to date. They’re also close to conceding an average of two goals a game. If Hereford can show the same attacking zeal that they did on Saturday this looks like a home win, and a continuation of 2023’s mini-renaissance.
This really does simply have to be won for a club that’s left itself needing to average two points a game from now on to gatecrash the play-off party. Bring on the diamond Whites. Hic.
COYW