Happy Munday again on Saturday?

A big game for Hereford FC on Saturday then, as they host league leaders and championship favourites South Shields, a side who’ve topped the table from the very start of the season.

Full-time Shields were promoted to the NLN two seasons ago, and seemed to have the profile (well supported, healthy financial backing) to suggest that they’d immediately go up again and push for advancement into the Football League. That didn’t happen, and 8th and 17^th-placed finishes since promotion suggested that they’d found their level.

That notion has been firmly left behind this season, with star striker Paul Blackett on 22 league goals, but for once his goals aren’t the only show in town. Strike partner Cedwyn Scott, who joined the club in the summer from Carlisle for a fee, has also been scoring freely with 17. He’s been out since February though.

However, as big a factor in their success so far has been the concession of just 30 goals in their 36 games. To put that into perspective, Merthyr in third position have conceded 66.

Ian Watson replaced Eliott Dickman as manager in the summer and has completely transformed the fortunes of the club. He oversees a young side, with an average age of 24, but the youngsters are showing no signs of letting the pressure of topping the table get to them.

In October Hereford were unlucky to come away from the northeast with nothing in a 2-1 loss. Mike Parker had a good game that day and is of course no longer around, but despite that the squad is now far stronger than it was then, so there’s plenty to be hopeful about.

So Shields may be the league leaders, but there will be very few fixtures they’d less like to play than Hereford away at the moment, given the Bulls recent form and recovery. They’ll make the long trip south on Friday fully aware that the Bulls’ league position is rapidly starting to look like something of a nonsense.

It would appear to be an absolute given that Freddy Willcox will be the best defensive midfielder on the pitch. His positional awareness on Tuesday night, allowing him to be the ‘out ball’ seemingly for virtually all his teammates regardless of where they were playing, was astonishing. Even more so given that he’s only 20. If Hereford have any aspirations to get back to the right end of the table next season, the Worcester-born playmaker is the sort of player they need to bring in as a key component of the spine of the side.

He allowed the side to keep possession, ably assisted by an impressive Keziah Martin, forcing Leamington to waste energy chasing the ball. It’s unlikely that the hosts will enjoy such a share of possession on Saturday, but what’s now long gone as a tactic is to boot the ball vaguely in the direction of a blameless and isolated Remaye Campbell, allowing opposition defenders to easily mop up and launch attack after attack. Hereford now have the players to keep the ball, and this should be a very entertaining encounter between two footballing sides.

Suddenly the Bulls are scoring. 13 in four games, and one of those games was 0-0. George Munday now has five in seven, and Willo has two in two. Mikey Lane has the bustling energy of a Duracell bunny who’s had too much coffee, and, like Jason Cowley, has that incessant presence that defenders find distinctly irritating and mistake-inducing. He’ll hopefully get off the mark here.

So, there’s now an attacking threat, but that mainly comes from the fact that the attackers have something to feed off, with players such as Cormac Daly and Harry Tustin skipping directly through or round the back of defences. Previously, a Hereford ‘attack’ comprised long balls or lethargic lateral passing across the pitch in the vague hope of finding an opening. Now there’s purpose and a belief that an opening can proactively be manufactured, on the floor and at pace. I can’t remember the last time a Hereford goal looked utterly inevitable in the way that Harrison Sohna’s on Tuesday did in the minutes before he scored it.

On a more cautionary note, Leamington’s defending was poor whereas South Shields’ won’t be. Also, there’s still seemingly an element of panic in the Hereford defence when they’re faced with pacy counterattacks. Obviously the goal conceded on Tuesday was poor, avoidable and reminiscent of so much Hereford defending that’s gone before it this season, but there were several other moments too when a better side, a side such as Saturday’s visitors, would have capitalised on the uncertainty at the back much more mercilessly. It would be surprising if Aaron Downes isn’t looking to spend the budget freed up by Adam Rooney’s departure on a new centre back. He’s got until the end of the month before the seasonal deadline. He’s also got some negotiating to do with Cheltenham in order to extend the stays of Willcox and Tustin.

Heavy rain on Thursday evening doesn’t seem to have been enough to trigger that dreaded phrase ‘pitch inspection’, and, given the upturn and goalfests, Aaron Downes and his players should be rewarded with a 3000 crowd here.

COYW