Following the disappointment of Tuesday
night’s defeat at home to an admirably up-for-it Telford, Hereford FC can
quickly get back on track on Saturday as they host King’s Lynn.
This fixture last season was won at a
canter by the East Anglians, and offered early evidence that Hereford’s summer
transfer activity had delivered a bottom six squad rather than a play-off one.
The contrast to this summer’s wheeling and dealing and the resultant
top-of-the-table start couldn’t be starker.
Of course, everything anyone wants to
talk about in the build-up to this game revolves around the return of one man,
and one man alone. Yes indeed ladies and gentlemen, Harley Hamilton is back at
Edgar Street.
Hamilton looked like a decent prospect
in his brief time at Hereford, but he ended up departing in the summer to join
his former boss in Norfolk, and in terms of league table positions at least, he
hasn’t been missed.
Another threat is ex-Scunthorpe and
Chorley Carlton Ubaezuona. He’s got five goals this season in not that many
minutes played, including a hat-trick against Telford – why weren’t THAT
version of the Telford defence at Edgar Street on Tuesday night?!
Both players came on as subs at Worksop
on Tuesday, where the Linnets got hammered 5-0, and given the outcome there
they may get starts here.
Top scorer for them is Jesse Nwabueze
with six goals. The ex-Ipswich youngster looks to be quite a find, and unlike
Ubaezuona is more-or-less a guaranteed starter.
Ex-Bulls assistant boss Adam Rooney is
still lacing up his boots (although I guess they just slip on these days) at 38
and was an unused sub on Tuesday.
Pulling the strings for them in midfield
is another ex-Scunthorpe player, and club captain, Michael Clunan, who has
spent his entire career at clubs on the east coast.
They look like a solid side and had been
going well before that midweek thrashing.
The Bulls didn’t turn up until the
second half on Tuesday. Manager Aaron Downes has admitted that he got things
wrong tactically with a lack of width, and Luke Spokes’ honest and articulate
appraisal after the match was absolutely on the money. His own personal
performance mirrored that of the team, in that he was a passenger in the first
half before returning to his sparkling best after the break, and was very
unlucky not to score.
12 players in that first half were
playing with the intensity and desire you’d expect, with only Harry Tustin, of
those 12, representing Hereford. It wasn’t anything like the performance of a
table-topping side; much more reminiscent in fact of the first half of last
season.
However, it’s readily apparent that
everyone realises all of the above, and an appropriate reaction here against a
side reeling from that 5-0 loss at Worksop should set things straight, if this Hereford
squad is indeed top-7 material.
Fin Holmes could offer some of that
width that was lacking on Tuesday, although Aaron Skinner was creative in the
second half when pushing on, so maybe wing backs could be the way to go.
Whoever delivers it, width is needed, rather than messy congested pinball in
the middle of the pitch.
Billy Phillips looked very wobbly when
coming off against Telford, but the consensus seems to be that it was an impact
knock and therefore nothing to worry about unduly. If this comes too soon for
him, it could be a good opportunity to unleash Kam Muir from the start. In fact
it might be a good opportunity to do that regardless.
Harrison Iwunze didn’t score on Tuesday
so he will score here.
The unadulterated barnstorming will-to-win
in evidence against South Shields, and that Telford demonstrated against
Hereford, needs to return here for the whole 90 minutes.
It’s a slightly odd feeling at the
moment – before a ball was kicked this season no Bulls supporter would have
turned down second in the table averaging two points a game after 13 games,
especially after last season. It’s just that those two recent 1-0 home losses,
and four points from the last four games, have put a slight dampener on things,
and could take 500 off the gate here. A front-foot performance and a win here will
rectify that though.
Oh and a cheeky fiver on the Kings Lynn
manager getting a yellow or even red card may not be a bad investment.
COYW
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