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Following Hereford FC’s successful trip to the northeast on Tuesday, the northeast comes to Edgar Street on Saturday in the form of Spennymoor Town.
Moors striker Glen Taylor yet again finished as one of the top scorers in the NLN last season, but at 34 he isn’t the force of old. He has nine goals this season, but three of those were against struggling Rushall. Midfielder Isaac Fletcher was instead doing the damage for them early in the season, but left for Barrow in January.
Graeme Lee took over as manager last January, and oversaw a very strong Moors finish to last season, ultimately resulting in them missing out on a play-off place by one point. Given that he’s now had a year in the job and the chance to bring his own new recruits in, he would have been looking to build on that this season, but one of those recruits was Fletcher, and if somewhere as attractive as Barrow becomes an option, there’s not much Lee can do to prevent the move. The player may have turned down Nice or Monaco, but you don’t turn down the quality of life on offer in Barrow. Must be frustrating for managers, much like trying to get to Barrow.
Like Taylor, winger Rob Ramshaw seems to have been with the club for ages and, having just checked, that’s because he has, signing in 2016, so not long after Hereford FC were formed. He has six goals and four assists for them this season, still coming up with the goods.
Much-travelled ex-Bull Mitch Hancox tends to play a bit-part role for them each game off the bench. I could politely suggest that he’s an impact sub, but probably time-wasting sub is closer to the truth given the multi-sub tactical approach taken now.
Moors boast a very strong record in the meetings between these clubs going back to 2018. Hereford have won just two of the 11, but with last Saturday’s Brackley result still fresh in Bulls’ fans minds it’s clear that head-to-head history counts for nothing. The sides drew 0-0 ‘up there’ in September.
Having to compete for local players with South Shields financially seems to be beyond them, which has arguably contributed to them not being quite the consistent play-off fancies they used to be. They’re very much an inconsistent mid-table outfit this season, nine points behind Hereford having played a game less. It’s probably a little too soon to hope that they’ve got one eye on rebuilding for next season already, making them a little easier to beat, but it would take some run for them to repeat their late rattle of last season and storm the play-offs, from where they currently sit. Given the no-man’s-land they’re in league table-wise, it could be that their continued participation in the FA Trophy could be something of a distraction. They play Sutton in the quarter finals in a few weeks, which is both soon enough calendar-wise and deep enough competition-wise for perhaps one or two of their players to prioritise avoiding injury in this game above spilling blood for the cause and potentially missing the quarter final.
As for the hosts, they’re charging again. To paraphrase the old M&S ad, ‘There are wins, and there are Marks and Spencer wins’. Away at in-form Peterborough, home to in-form Brackley, and somewhere north of Norway on a Tuesday night – very impressive, and a hugely characterful bounce back following a poor run that threatened to derail the season.
Yusifu Ceesay was taken off at South Shields but will hopefully be back here, as he’s as crucial to Hereford as Paul Blackett is to Shields.
Assuming the winger is OK to start, it could be that Paul Caddis is reluctant to change a winning team, but options exist, with Levi Andoh a possibility. Aaron Skinner will presumably have to content himself with a place on the bench though as he continues his gradual reintroduction following injury.
It would be no surprise to see a goal-hungry Andy Williams back on the scoresheet at Edgar Street here, and Jaiden White seems lively again after a slightly flat spell that coincided with the team’s general dip at the turn of the year. Tate Campbell marshalled the midfield on Tuesday, Sammy Robinson was his usual influential self, the centre backs were utterly immense, and Alex Babos, like Jaiden White, seems to be returning to the form everyone knows he’s capable of. With Lewis Hudson overseeing the whole lot, and hopefully more to come from DJ, things are looking up.
To return to a previous theme, why not set the scoreboard to 0-1 at kick-off so that the energy and forward momentum that usually comes from conceding a goal is there from the start instead. The playing it patiently back and forth can come when it’s 3-0 with five minutes to go.
The old core 1800 who turned up regardless seems to have become 2400 under Caddis. That alone tells a story, and the loyalty shown this season, when it hasn’t always been sweetness and light at home, has been hugely impressive. Hopefully the recent wins will push the crowd here back up towards 3000, and everyone can go home having witnessed another win and a return to the play-off places.
COYW