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Hereford FC entertain Brentwood on Saturday as they embark on a journey in the FA Trophy that could culminate in yet another Wembley appearance in May, by which time they could be called something different yet very familiar. That journey could of course culminate 153.7 miles west of Wembley at the actual home of football this Saturday, but the Bulls go into the game as overwhelming favourites.
A long run in the competition would make up a little bit for the early exit from the FA Cup at the hands of another lower-graded side from just down the road from Brentwood.
There was lots of news in the week, with the suggestion from chairman Stig Ammonds that there’s a modicum of financial security at the club currently, and the arrival of new striker Jaiden White from Redditch, with perhaps another one or two on the way to further strengthen the squad. Also, of course, that vote on the name change. All this in addition to the club sitting nicely in sixth place in the table following a 4-0 win. Recent wobbles have therefore been edged from the forefront of everyone’s minds just a bit, although not so much hopefully that any complacency creeps in here.
Brentwood beat higher-graded Cray Valley Paper Mills in the last round to earn the right to play in front of not many people at Edgar Street in the second round of the competition. They have some pedigree in knockout football, having reached the quarter finals of the FA Cup as recently as, er, 1885.
The winner here receives the princely sum of £3,750, an amount of money FA blazers put aside for lunch expenses over the course of, well, probably one lunch, when they’re talking about how best to ignore making brave decisions that matter, like reminding the Premier League that the health of the national game is more important than making money.
This looks like a good one to give Mark Derricott a start in, and a chance to cement his new status as Hereford’s number 9. Poacher’s finish last Saturday, absolutely delighted for him.
With Scarborough’s visit on Tuesday night closely following this game, I was going to suggest that one or two other fringe players could be given a start, but the squad isn’t really of the size to have the luxury of fringe players. It’s only just big enough to have the luxury of substitutes.
It was good to see Cosmos Matwasa get an extended run out last Saturday, and in so doing hinting that there may be a great deal more to come from him as the season progresses. This could offer another chance for him to assert himself and stake a claim to a more regular starting place. It’s also a useful vehicle for putting more minutes into the legs of Jason Cowley in readiness for, dare I say it, stiffer and more important tests to come.
I’m never entirely sure of the rules around suspensions (given recent disciplinary slip-ups I might need to swot up), but Alex Babos I think can play in this game, but not on Tuesday. Regardless of what the rules are, Tate Campbell returns having served his one-match ban. Sammy Robinson, Aaron Skinner and Preston Bitemo miss out again through injury. New signing White will also miss out, cup-tied after playing for Redditch in an earlier round of the competition. Given my track record with this sort of thing, all of them will probably start the game now.
The Blues had a midweek league game to get through before starting to think about the long haul west for this. They visited the wonderfully named Sporting Bengal United in the Isthmian League North, two levels below Hereford, and lost 2-0 in front of 85 people.
In the match before that, they beat bottom-of-the-table Ipswich Wanderers 8-0. After those two games, they’re tenth in their league, two points off the play-offs.
Keith Rowland clearly stayed in the locality after finishing playing at West Ham, and now manages the club, and Steve Patient is their physio, which seems quite an appropriate name. Not as appropriate though as Terry Bibs-Cones, who is their kit manager…OK, OK, I made that last one up.
The Isthmian League North is also the home of Cambridge City, who were put to the sword at Edgar Street with a minimum of fuss in the FA Cup last season. With that in mind, this looks like a kind draw for the hosts, and it would be something of a shock if they didn’t progress relatively smoothly through to the next round, especially with that 4-0 caning of Marine still fresh in the memory. However, as ever, any complacency coupled with an up-for-it-with-nothing-to-lose opposition will probably result in something unpleasant happening, and there’s already been enough unpleasantness at home for one season, so no complacency please.
COYW