Over the borderline

Back in the 1980s, Madonna suggested in one of her catchy tunes that ‘You keep on pushing my love over the borderline’. Madge never made it explicitly clear that she was referring to the borderline between Hereford and Merthyr Tydfil, but I’m pretty sure she was.

700 Hereford FC supporters push their love for the club over that very borderline on Tuesday (I think it’s Tuesday, I have no idea what day it is at the moment) as a very tricky festive fixture programme continues for the Bulls. It’s yet another staggeringly impressive demonstration of EFL-level support for a club currently battling to stay at the sixth level of English football.

Following deflating defeat against Kidderminster Harriers on Boxing Day, Hereford hop across to a sold-out Penydarren Park to face high-flying, free-scoring Merthyr, another of the National League North form teams, under the lights and on an artificial pitch.

The Martyrs average well over two goals a game this season and eased to a 3-1 win at Oxford on Boxing Day, with the home team’s consolation goal coming long after the game had been put to bed by the Welshmen. They’ve scored more goals than anyone else in the division, and sit very solidly in third place. This is all the more impressive given that they only arrived in the NLN in the summer following promotion.

One chink of light in looking for ways in which Hereford might get something here is that Merthyr have, remarkably, conceded more goals than bottom club Leamington, and indeed Hereford.

They’ve achieved the remarkable things they’ve achieved so far this season with a squad of just 19 part-time players. Their geographical dislocation from the north of England is more extreme than Hereford’s, so they have to travel further to away games, although admittedly they’re handy for Newport, Cardiff and Bristol in terms of player catchment areas. Their average home attendance is half that of Hereford’s, although some modest funding streams are reportedly in place that don’t seem to be available to Paul Caddis. Some of this makes for slightly uncomfortable reading in comparative terms given the relative league positions of the two clubs.

Ricardo Rees has scored, er, 24 league goals this season, and Lewys Twamley provides him with the opportunities to score those goals. It’s more or less as simple as that. If a few of those 700 Hereford supporters could therefore make the short trip a day early and stay up the night before the game loudly singing songs outside those two players’ houses, it might ensure an unlikely win for the visitors.

Yet another early goal was conceded by the Bulls on Boxing Day, and Merthyr’s attack won’t need a second invitation to accept gifts from the Hereford defence. Caddis presumably went with five defenders against Harriers in an attempt to tighten things up, at least in the early stages of the game. A logical move, and one that could be repeated here even if it didn’t work as intended on Boxing Day.

Prior to that game, the Kiddy boss described Hereford as a ‘wounded animal’, and, as such, dangerous. Following another defeat and therefore being even more wounded, that should mean the Bulls are even more dangerous now. Look out Merthyr.

Caddis is in the process of changing what could be a quarter of his squad in readiness for an improved showing in the second half of the season. It’s vital, not just desirable, that those newcomers offer significant improvement in key areas if the club is to ease away from trouble over the next few weeks. The time for bringing makeweights in on short-term loan deals is over, and actually I’m not sure there should ever be a time for that. It’s more like a waste of time. There’s certainly ample opportunity for the Bulls to rapidly move away from trouble with two games a week soon to become the norm.

To inject some fresh quality would also have positive knock-on effects. If players like Harley Hamilton (whose stay at Edgar Street will, depressingly, presumably be a fleeting one as he moves up a level or sideways to a heavily subsidised club) and Sam Osborne (another whose continued time with the club is the subject of some concern currently) can perform well in a struggling side, as they have done, their contributions should increase still further with new arrivals, preferably with some EFL pedigree, to bring out the best in them. Obviously that only applies if they’re actually still around though.

As ever, there’s absolutely no doubting the commitment of the current players and the togetherness of the dressing room, but as it’s unfortunately continuing to not work out on the pitch action needs to be taken sharpish.

After two big derbies in front of sizeable crowds, it’s down to earth with a bump on Saturday in front of a few hundred die-hards at Alfreton, regrettably something of a relegation six-pointer as things stand.

Avoiding defeat at Merthyr would at least see the Bulls going into that game and 2026 generally on the front foot as they attempt to pull away from what’s starting to look more and more like becoming a relegation battle.

Happy new year everyone! (Sorry, that sounded utterly sarcastic after the sentence above, but I meant it sincerely!).

COYW