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Hereford FC host Marine on Saturday, looking to bounce back from two straight defeats.

Tuesday night against Oxford was truly a tough old watch, even before the Babos sending off. Admittedly it could have ended up being a glorious night if Cosmos Matwasa’s shot had gone in to win it for the hosts, but with football being a results business, the record will merely state that the game was lost 2-0, and a win would arguably merely have papered over the cracks anyway.

It feels like a reset is needed before the season becomes another one of falling short of the play-offs.

I thought there were two good performances on Tuesday and one truly excellent one, and that truly excellent one made me want to give Yusifu Ceesay a massive hug. A Hereford FC legend. Paul Caddis has quite rightly cited a lack of intensity as an issue (to go with a lack of discipline), but if everyone played with the intensity of the left winger there wouldn’t be a problem.

Also, when the club has a striker in Ahkeem Rose who can turn rapidly on a sixpence with the ball under close control, instantly losing his marker in the process, an ability unusual at this level, why aren’t balls zipped into him at pace on a regular basis rather than laterally chugged between the back four and then lumped forward diagonally more in hope than expectation?

When Ty Deacon’s loan period expires, that should add a tiny bit of wriggle room for Caddis to attempt to bring in a player to replace him who can actually offer something extra to ‘the group’, although admittedly given the apparent budget constraints that wriggle room will be more to pogo in than to do a full Strictly Come Dancing routine. Mention by Caddis of a few irons in the fire suggest that a fresh face or two will be brought in soon, although having to go shopping for players at a level lower seems surprising given gate receipts, and very hit and miss in terms of yielding players who are good enough. However, if he didn’t have to do that he wouldn’t, and wouldn’t talk about doing it, so he clearly has to and that’s that, for whatever financial reason.

It’s not much fun of course at the moment, but the luck Caddis has had with injuries to key players in a small squad has been awful, and missing Sammy Robinson (as he transitions from being suspended and injured to just being injured) and Aaron Skinner makes a huge difference. I can’t envisage that performance against Oxford being possible with those two on the pitch, both of whom exude that intensity that Caddis is missing currently. Another notable absentee, Jason Cowley, will hopefully be fit enough to start here.

Tate Campbell will be a very big miss in midfield as he serves a one-match suspension, but Alex Babos will be available before he takes his own turn on the naughty step next time. It would be good to see the playmaker showing signs of his old self after one or two relatively quiet performances of late.

Marine have washed up in the National League North having upset the odds in beating Macclesfield in the Northern Premier play-offs last season.

Like Farsley, they’re a club seemingly taking a bit of a punt this season on young arrivals from lower down the pyramid. This approach hadn’t worked spectacularly well up until Tuesday night (take note Paul Caddis if you’re having to take a similar approach), when they suddenly thumped Chorley 3-0. Prior to that they’d won just one game in their last eight. They’ve won just one in six away, and scored just two goals in those six games. They lost 2-0 at bottom club Rushall. Despite that win last time out, they’re third from bottom and four points the wrong side of safety.

Normally all that would have Bulls fans salivating, but, well, absolutely nothing can be taken for granted currently can it, and they did hold Kidderminster to a 0-0 draw at Aggborough, and have recorded five clean sheets in their last ten games.

Striker Enock Lusiama arrived at the Merseyside club from Halesowen in September, and scored twice against Chorley. Brad Grant came in on loan from Burnley before that match, and is described as a ‘wide defender’, which I take to mean his position on the field rather than being suggestive of a Greggs habit. The last Burnley loanee who was brought in ahead of a game against Hereford was Will Hugill, who was impressive for Chester, so hopefully there are no omens there.

The Bulls do still sit on the cusp of the play-offs of course so the seasonal start has been far from disastrous, but the sheer extent of the lethargy, lack of ideas and general pizzazz on Tuesday was worrying, regardless of the league position. If the visitors look more up for it than the hosts again here, it really won’t be a good look.

Talking of those ‘more in hope than expectation’ diagonal balls, it does feel like hope has once more replaced expectation, at least for the time being, ahead of Hereford FC matches. Here’s hoping…

COYW