.png)
This fixture has ended 2-1 each of the
three times it has been played. Unfortunately it’s been the visitors who’ve
scored the two on the last two occasions. Last season the Reds win at HFC HQ
was helped by some expert gamesmanship, notably from goalkeeper George Willis, who
should be back between the sticks for them on Saturday. Admittedly his
timewasting exploits were arguably exceeded by the Kidderminster goalie over
Christmas, but if the visitors do edge ahead on Saturday Willis will have his
moment in the sun again, falling to the floor and staying down for ages having
received the ball at a snail’s pace, and generally seeming to be totally
blotto, confused, geriatric or with crippling musculoskeletal issues, or a
combination of all of those. It's really not a good look.
Alfreton lost at home to Curzon on Tuesday night in front of 300 people, but despite that looking a bit rubbish they’re actually a tough nut to crack, and if they win their games in hand they’ll edge past Chorley and into the play-offs. They’ve won alternate games over the course of the last eight, and unfortunately if that pattern continues this is one they’re due to win.
Striker Jordan Thewlis arrived from Spennymoor in November, a properly useful player whose arrival coincided with them not losing until that Curzon hiccup. Defender Dwayne Wiley, thought of by Reds fans as something of a colossus, was sent off on Tuesday and will therefore be suspended, I think, which is handy.
With the jury still out on whether a lone striker really works tactically at NLN level, and assuming Ty Barnett isn’t quite ready yet to start a game following injury, Colin Oppong goes into his fifth game for the Bulls still looking for his first goal, and presumably hoping for a bit more service this time.
Admittedly some of the centre forwards tried haven’t really been up to the job since Hereford were promoted to the NLN, but going back to the Marc Richards days a certain striker who shall remain nameless but whose record elsewhere at that level was perfectly reasonable suggested to me at the time that he couldn’t score regularly if he had to create his own chances and convert them too. It’s an issue that hasn’t really gone away, exacerbated by the aversion to the seemingly deeply unfashionable idea of playing two strikers at once, and has been reflected in the Hereford ‘goals for’ column in all of their NLN seasons to date. Hopefully the crosses and bodies into the box approach that worked well at home against Farsley a few weeks ago will be returned to for the rest of the season.
Elsewhere, Jack Holmes should have done more than enough on Tuesday to keep his starting place here, and a goal from the tricky youngster looks imminent. Once that’s scored, there could then be lots more before the season’s out as he becomes increasingly aware that he’s more than ready for the rigours of the NLN.
If Southport had done their homework they would have expected to be under the cosh a bit in the first half on Tuesday, but then able to nick a win in the second half as Hereford, characteristically, ran out of fizz. They would therefore have been happy to go in at half-time 0-0, but it was a tactical masterstroke from Yan Klukowski and Jared Hodgkiss to switch to a flat first half and win the game in the second 45 minutes with a really bright performance, particularly from the wing backs and Levi Andoh. Zac Lilly also had a very good game. It was truly entertaining. If that approach can now be extended to an hour or even the whole match here there should be little to worry about from Alfreton. Indeed, one gets the feeling that the Bulls would be a comfortable top-6 side with that whole-match consistency. You can’t expect it every game of course, but just occasionally would be a start.
With the club now in a period of transition, it’ll be important to stay focused to initially ensure that a points tally sufficient to stave off any relegation fears is achieved asap. The new man (or woman – that would be interesting wouldn’t it?) can then come in with one less thing to worry about. Building for next season would then be the priority, with the play-offs now a very distant prospect.
This match will be refereed by a Mr Matthew Rhead from Alfreton in Derbyshire. Matt has refereed several games at Edgar St before, always eccentrically wearing the colours of the opposing team rather than the traditional black, bless him. Good luck Matt, and if a pitch invader dressed in black suggests meekly to you that he thought he was supposed to be in charge when you’re busy trying to tell him what to do, just elbow him firmly but fairly in the head and off the pitch.
Another win please Yan. 2-1 will do fine, but 5-0 would be better.
COYW