Following yet another away
defeat last weekend at Gateshead, the Bulls now embark on a chunk of four
winnable matches, and supporters will be expecting at least a couple more wins
from those four, a consolidation of their mid-table position, and, as the
40-point mark is limped towards, an end to any lingering relegation fears, with
40 looking like enough this season with only two going down.
With Blyth continuing to show
signs of twitching back into life, and only eight points shy of Hereford in the
table (although they did lose last time out), anything other than the above
scenario would leave the Bulls in a perilous position.
With the collection of much in
the way of points away from home seemingly a write-off at the moment, it’s
therefore vital that matches at home against the strugglers are won, preferably
convincingly. Encouragingly, Victor Sodeinde extended his loan deal in the week,
and will hopefully continue to provide the attacking threat he’s shown during
his time with the club to date, this time against what has been a very leaky
defence. Taylor Allen however has returned to Forest Green Rovers.
Bradford
enjoyed a strong season last term, qualifying for the play-offs and doing the
double over Hereford. They also gained one of only three wins so far this
season with a 3-2 victory over Hereford, who were always behind in the game and
defensively chaotic. Vincenti and O’Sullivan scored for the Bulls. It was the
match that marked the start of that long run without a league win, and demonstrated
to supporters that there was an urgent need for the acquisition of a commanding
centre half, a need that remains to this day.
That
Bradford win was a rare high point in a season of otherwise unremitting misery
for them, as off-field issues at the club continue to impact negatively on
performances and results. They’ve lost their last five league games, are twelve
points shy of safety, and lie eight points adrift of second-bottom Blyth. Their
goal difference is a massive -51. To make matters worse, captain Keith Lowe
recently opted to move to Kidderminster. They also this week lost a couple of
loan players who returned to their parent clubs, so they’ll presumably be
looking to bring some replacements in for the trip south. One encouraging sign
for them is that they’ve only lost by the odd goal in three in their last two
games, against York and Boston.
Those three
goals against the Bulls earlier in the season represent almost a quarter of
their entire tally. Whilst it’s impossible not to have sympathy for a club in
such turmoil, Hereford couldn’t wish for a better opportunity than this to haul
themselves back up the table with a win, and steady the ship in the process.
With Reece Styche this week
calling for everyone who cares about the club to pull together to get out of
this current run of form, the crowd will I’m sure get right behind the players
if they can see the sort of desire to compete and win that was on show against
Kidderminster, and a while ago against York.
It would be so nice to get this
won in the first half and play some free-flowing confident football in the
second to create a positive vibe for the trip to Kettering next week, a match
that should be one to feel optimistic about until you factor in that dreadful
away record. One can but dream.
COYW