HFC - goal machine

Hereford FC travel to Derbyshire on Saturday for a big old relegation tussle with Alfreton, with a renewed sense of hope that they can possibly blast their way to safety this season following a big win in every sense against Chester in midweek.

Was that a one-off? Will the new young recruits take to the Derbyshire mud in the same way they have to the Worcestershire plastic?

I mentioned before the Chester game that back-to-back wins would completely change the complexion of the attempted great escape. Given everything that had gone before, I didn’t have much hope of that becoming a reality, but the Bulls are halfway there and go into this one jet-propelled by that five-star midweek mullering. The previously goal-shy Bulls burst into life at Sixways, giving the suggestion that new manager Aaron Downes is finding the right formula in terms of the players he’s bringing in and how he’s asking the squad to play.

However, before I get too carried away, it was only one match, and because of what’s happened over the last six months before that one match, the club still sit second bottom in the league with a huge amount of work to do.

They’ve picked a rotten season to decide to have a little dalliance with the drop too, as other than Leamington everyone towards the bottom is picking up points consistently. Alfreton, Bedford, Kings Lynn and Southport all won on Tuesday.

Back in August the Bulls comfortably beat Alfreton 2-0, a result that gave some hope in suggesting that the abject defeats prior to that were as a result of the club being ill-prepared for the start of the season. Hereford are now one off the bottom with well over half the season gone, and those depressingly meek capitulations to Kings Lynn and Chorley in August were, after all, accurate reflections of what was to come.

The Reds aren’t actually that bad at home, but have somehow contrived to only score 16 goals in 14 home games in winning six and drawing three of them. The predictable flipside of that is that they’re very tough to score against on their own patch.

They’ve won three of their last five, and sit four points clear of Hereford having played four games more.

Newish manager Jake Buxton has instilled a ‘never say die’ attitude in his team, typified recently by a comeback 3-2 win against Merthyr having been 2-0 down with just 20 minutes left. The gifts given on Tuesday by Chester will not be given by Alfreton on Saturday.

Like Hereford, they can’t afford to employ a significant goalscorer, and their strength comes from their togetherness and that spirit.

Alfreton’s goalie, Ludlow-based Harry Burgoyne, was sent off in their win against Scarborough on Tuesday, forcing them to field his 18-year-old understudy for the final minutes. Unfortunately I don’t think his suspension will kick in for this game. Burgoyne had offered earlier in the season to play for Hereford for free when his previous club Morecambe were in some disarray, but then-manager Paul Caddis didn’t take him up on the offer – he may feel he’s got something to prove therefore.

Young Josh Ayers was lively in that Scarborough game, and is their most likely goal threat.

When this match was originally scheduled for early January before the weather intervened, Sam Osborne found himself in the bizarre situation of being back at his parent club and facing the side he’d just left (and reportedly still wanted to be at). Since returning to Alfreton, he’s bafflingly not even made the squad in their last five games. Hopefully that will continue to be the case here.

The Bulls squad continues to change quite considerably from match to match, but following Tuesday night’s fireworks are we finally, finally seeing a combination that might actually deliver some enjoyment and a cutting edge? Is Aaron Downes now able to field a more settled starting XI?

Cormac Daly will now have two opposition players marking him for the remainder of his time at Hereford, but as ever this frees up space and gives opportunities to others elsewhere.

George Munday looks to be a number of things that previous loanee striker Callum McFarlane wasn’t, all of them advantageous, Joseph James is a young defender with Championship-level first-team experience with Bristol City, a very interesting signing, and the various new arrivals from Cheltenham all look classy. However, if all you’ve got is ‘classy’ you’ll get found out at Alfreton. This will be an intriguing test for them.

The Bulls have those four games in hand over Saturday’s opponents, but they have a whopping six in hand over Oxford and Peterborough. There’s then a slightly concerning ten-point gap to Worksop, but above them Kings Lynn could get points docked for allegedly deliberately waterlogging their pitch. As things stand, therefore, fifth-bottom and safety looks arguably the most likely end-of-season outcome, but a loss here would be very difficult to stomach and would replant seeds of doubt in the minds of supporters.

If nothing else, that 5-2 win will give the side a huge confidence boost going into this one (and give the hosts pause for thought). An early goal would settle nerves and allow the side to forget all about the pressure of a relegation six-pointer, and go about once more attempting to make a nonsense of the club’s league position and everything that’s gone before. 

Amazing what a big win can do.

COYW