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So seven cup finals and the win against Farsley to come (surely that’s one that really can’t be messed up) before either the curtain closes on the 2024/25 season or participation in the play-off lottery commences.
That all starts with a trip to the east coast for Hereford FC on Saturday, as they look to bounce back from a bitterly disappointing performance and result at Rushall on Tuesday. Mid-table Scarborough are the hosts, a side whose season is already over. There wasn’t much evidence in the week that they’ve already got their flip-flops on and their beach towels out though. They warmed up for this one with a 5-0 thrashing of Needham Market.
It's maybe slightly surprising that Scarborough find themselves in 15th position, as they always look very neat and tidy against Hereford, and clearly everything clicked for them on Tuesday. Could their position be a demonstration of the strength in depth of the National League North, or is it that their admirable insistence on playing football doesn’t pay the dividends it should in the NLN? Or was it the opposition?
Despite a generally disappointing season, the Seadogs have had some good results. A 2-1 home win against Brackley earlier in the season came courtesy of a 99th minute winner, and that’s not the only time a last-gasp goal has handed them the points. If this one’s still close going into the latter stages of the game the Bulls will therefore have to retain full concentration.
Luca Colville, Alex Purver and Lewis Maloney are all talented footballers in the middle of the park and really should have pushed the side higher than 15th.
They would have been hoping pre-season that 6’ 4” striker Richie Bennett, who arrived from Scunthorpe in the summer, would offer an end product to complement their creativity in midfield. The 33-year-old has been a partial success with six goals, but their main threat has been Dom Tear with eleven so far, although three of them came within an hour of the season starting away at Radcliffe.
Another threat on the opposite side of the pitch to Tear is Harry Green, who grabbed a couple of goals against Needham to take his seasonal tally to seven, with six assists.
They’ve scored as many goals as Hereford this season, but also conceded as many as Warrington.
They’re another club with a plastic pitch who seem to derive no real home advantage from it – whether they’re home or away they win, lose and draw fairly randomly, admittedly with a tendency to lose more than they win or draw, hence their relatively lowly league position. That 5-0 is therefore no guarantee that they’ll back it up with another win, especially if the Bulls travel with a desire to win whatever it takes. Was that desire in evidence on Tuesday? Maybe not.
Hereford are currently navigating choppy waters in terms of getting over the play-off line. Paul Caddis simply and honestly said that the players weren’t good enough on Tuesday. He also said that it’s tough to beat teams fighting for their lives, which it must be, but it’s something everyone else has managed against Rushall.
Form continues to be feast or famine, seemingly on a monthly basis. 2025 has seen a dreadful January, a wonderful February and now a March that seems to be following January. This can only mean that April will be all wins and a play-off place secured.
Just before Christmas Hereford edged past Scarborough 1-0 at Edgar Street courtesy of a goalkeeping howler in a game that Bulls News reporter Nigel Preece described as ‘attritional’.
Jaiden White scored the winner that day, and is due a goal or two. It’s also surely inevitable that either Matt Preston or Kyle Howkins will nod one in from a set-piece sometime soon.
Tate Campbell’s minimal involvement of late can surely only be due to him still suffering the effects of the groin strain he sustained a few weeks ago. Hopefully he’ll be fully fit for this one, and if so must be in contention for a starting place, although Kieran Glynn will also be hoping to start in making a rapid return to his former club.
The top three now look secure in battling it out for the title with a play-off place the consolation prize, but the following five clubs are separated by just one point. If the Bulls can turn things round sharpish they’re still very well placed. It’s just that one point from the last three games makes everything seem a lot worse, as does the suspicion that Sammy Robinson’s absence and a currently subdued Yusifu Ceesay could be cracks that aren’t possible to be papered over.
There will undoubtedly be more twists and turns as the season draws to a close, and hopefully those twists and turns will lead to sunlit uplands rather than oncoming trains.
It’s Curzon Ashton at home after this, and they’re a side better than anyone in the division on their travels. That’s also something of a play-off six-pointer. It would be good therefore to go into that one on a high.
COYW