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Following a bit of a Christmas wobble and a postponement, Hereford FC now have a golden opportunity to reignite their play-off challenge with four back-to-back winnable games over the course of the rest of the month. Warrington are the visitors to Edgar Street on Saturday, weather permitting, with Southport, Radcliffe and Peterborough awaiting after that.
With the new floodlights still not upright, this will be the second 1pm kick-off at Edgar Street in a row. Hopefully at least half of the Boxing Day crowd will return. These non-3pm kick-offs do seem quite fancy and Premier Leaguey, a fanciness that will hopefully be reflected in terms of the on-pitch product from the hosts.
In October, after beating Buxton and Curzon Ashton away in consecutive games (results that now look very good indeed), Hereford failed to make it three in a row on the road by losing 2-0 to Saturday’s visitors. This was largely due to Sammy Robinson’s early sending off, after which the ten men spiritedly tried to get back into the game. The 2-0 scoreline very much flattered Warrington, and a repeat of that team togetherness here should see the points go to the Bulls. Taking Boxing Day out of the equation, Hereford’s last four home league games have ended 4-0, 3-0, 1-0 and 1-0. That form points to a return to winning ways here.
New loanee goalie Theo Robertson makes his debut here. Is he the first in a batch of new arrivals with similar names to past Edgar Street success stories? Expect the imminent signing of Kelvin Sheedy, Darren Peapod and Jihad Bowen.
As evidenced by that run of home wins listed above, defensively things have largely gone well recently, with the Howkins-Preston partnership looking solid. However, one goal in the last three games points to a lack of confidence at the other end of the pitch. Paul Caddis has admitted that he’s a bit nonplussed as to why that should be the case, but this is a good opportunity to rectify the situation. There’s also still the lingering suspicion that Andy Williams, for one, will score some very important goals for the club this season. Playing a Guy Ipoua role in the play-offs as an experienced old head is a tantalising prospect, made all the more appealing by the fact that Willo was of course on the pitch as a young tyro when Ipoua was playing that role.
This is the Yellows’ second season in the NLN since promotion, and they adapted well last time, finishing a place and five points behind Hereford.
Ex-Bull Mark Beesley resigned as manager early in the season after eight years in charge. He seemed to be a shrewd cookie in operating effectively with one of the few playing budgets in the division that apparently doesn’t dwarf Hereford’s, and his departure after so long in charge left the club slightly rudderless. Former manager Paul Carden returned to the club as Beesley’s replacement, but has yet to find the magic formula to turn things around.
Generally, the trend seems to be that they’re gradually losing their better players and finding it hard to replace them with like-for-like quality. Isaac Buckley Ricketts left in the summer for Curzon Ashton, and star striker Connor Woods, with his six goals this season, is attracting interest from other clubs, and imminently looks like moving on. His departure would be the latest hint to suggest that all is not sweetness and light at Cantilever Park currently. This points to the probability that they’ll be strong relegation candidates this season, and makes this a very, very good time to be playing them. They’ve lost five of their last six games, which leaves them just three points clear of the relegation places.
Ollie Southern left Edgar Street in the summer to join his local club. The versatile 22-year-old has been in and out a bit due to injury, but his intelligence and ability on the ball will be useful to the visitors if he’s fit.
Club captain Josh Amis’s season only started in October, but he’s already found the net five times, including against Hereford earlier in the season. He played 90 minutes in the home loss to Kings Lynn last weekend, but is generally used more sparingly, and could be a big threat off the bench. However, with Connor Woods’ future uncertain, Amis could be needed for another 90-minute shift here.
They were reportedly unlucky to lose last Saturday, and something to be wary of is that their better results and performances this season have come against top-half sides.
They do like a draw away from home, having earned a point on their travels in six of their 11 away games, so an early Hereford goal would be good to avoid a situation whereby the visitors doggedly dig in for that point and gain confidence as the match progresses.
I’m sure I read somewhere that the second Monday in January is supposed to be the most miserable day of the year, so although P-P looks the most likely outcome given the current forecast, a win here would work wonders in getting Bulls fans through Blue Monday. Fingers crossed that when we move into February a bumper January points haul will have shot the Bulls into the top three or four following this winnable batch of forthcoming games.
COYW