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That win was richly deserved after a couple of gutsy draws against leaders Tamworth and play-off near-certainties Chester, who both left Edgar Street seemingly like they’d got out of jail with a point each.
It was a result that leaves Hereford four games unbeaten, and averaging the two points a game over those four games that would virtually ensure a play-off place if that average continued until the end of the season. So basically, they just have to keep doing what they’re doing and everything will be taken care of. Simple.
Curzon are one of the smaller clubs in the National League North, but they punched above their weight last season and were in contention for the play-offs right up until the final day. Admittedly that was the case for a huge swathe of the division, so perhaps it’s nothing to write home about, but The Nash used to make a habit of finishing 18th more often than not. They don’t anymore.
Ex-Bull Miles Storey has been with the club this season, but has just one goal from 23 appearances. He’s been something of a bit-part player and is an unlikely starter here. Ex-Stockport midfielder Alex Kenyon looked like a good summer signing from Chester, but hasn’t made the squad in the last two games. The fact that those two are in and out reflects the strength of the hosts’ squad.
Jimmy Spencer’s finishing abilities at this level are proven to a degree, although when at Farsley he was never prolific, but he leads by example as club captain as he’s also their top scorer with nine goals. Player manager Craig Mahon is usually influential for them, but at 34 doesn’t often give himself 90 minutes.
Spencer and Spanish central midfielder Stefan Mols have been described by the locals as the ‘danger duo’ in the team, so one for the three central defenders and another for Jordan Lyden to keep tabs on.
Right back Jordan Richards knows the NLN inside out after 150 appearances for Southport, Farsley and now Curzon.
The Nash earned a 0-0 draw at Tamworth last Saturday, which was either a good point or a missed opportunity if Tamworth, with one point from their last three games, have actually blown up – here’s hoping. Reports suggested that it wasn’t something that could in any way be described as ‘entertainment’ unless you’re the sort of person who enjoys painful things happening to your eyeballs.
They then followed that with a home defeat against strugglers Darlington on Tuesday. Admittedly the Quakers are making a decent fist of getting out of trouble, but nevertheless it’s still none too clever to lose at home to them, and having lost three of their last four Saturday’s hosts do seem to be on a downward spiral.
They’ve got the worst home record of the clubs in the top half of the table, and they don’t score many on their own patch either.
They sit a place and a point below the greatest football club in the country, having played a game more than that club.
Hereford FC (the greatest football club in the country) beat the Nash 3-1 at Edgar Street (the most beautiful place on Earth) in October in a game of three red cards and a man of the match performance from Alex Babos. Given his form currently, the Hereford playmaker could be in contention for that accolade again here.
Six wins were needed before the Southport game to hit the 70-point mark, which seems to be widely considered to be some sort of golden ticket into the play-offs. I think it’ll be a point or two more than that personally, but my maths tends to be as shaky as my knowledge of the FA’s rules for player suspensions so who knows. My maths CAN cope with the fact that the Southport win leaves just five wins needed to make it to the 70-point mark, a mark I’m arguing is irrelevant, so maybe I should just leave this paragraph here.
If Kieran Phillips can use Saturday’s goal as a springboard to show for the rest of the season the goalscoring form he had at Gloucester last season, where he averaged a goal every other game, he could be a very useful alternative option to the CoWillo striking partnership. I tried that portmanteau the other way round but it resulted in ‘Willey’ which seemed too rude.
Almost everyone will be missing from midfield again here (and this time Aurio Teixeira REALLY is suspended), but the bench may feature a youngster or two to add to the three subs scraped together for last weekend’s trip. This is all assuming Paul Caddis doesn’t dip into the loan market to find some cover of course.
Curzon may be a small club but the team itself is a strong one. This will be another tough match for the injury- and suspension-hit Bulls, but adversity just seems to bring this Hereford squad closer together and makes them stronger.
In a world in which Buxton FC can seemingly out-spend Hereford FC on players’ wages, the club is doing incredibly well going into the season’s denouement on the cusp of the play-offs, in form, utterly united, and poised like a coiled cobra to reclaim and keep a play-off place.
COYW