Following a smashing win in the Cup on Saturday on the south coast against Gosport, Hereford FC find themselves by the seaside again on Tuesday evening, as they start their National League North campaign away at Southport.
From the English Channel to the Irish Sea may seem like quite a geographical shift, but the FA Cup classifies Hereford as being in southern England, whereas the National League puts the city right in the heart of the north, so a dramatic change of scene it is. Ee ba gum, as folk are forever saying in High Town as they take their whippets for walks.
Southport edged past our old friends Morpeth 2-1 on Saturday to join the Bulls in the next round, but Liam Watson’s side had to come from behind after trailing 1-0 at half time. It could’ve been more but Morpeth had a penalty saved. George Newell clinched the winner for the Sandgrounders, adding to the nine goals he scored pre-season (which is possibly more than Hereford managed between them), so he’ll clearly need to be watched by the Bulls defence. Both Southport goals came courtesy of perfect crosses from winger Matt Challoner, another threat.
Of slight concern has been the fact that a Morpeth player subsequently tested positive for Covid-19, but Southport have confirmed that this won't affect Tuesday's match, having taken medical advice.
Despite Saturday’s win looking like a thoroughly impressive and professional one, Josh Gowling still saw ample scope for improvement from the Bulls, and that tendency not to rest on his laurels looks like a very useful asset. The memory of Marc Richards claiming that home draws against the likes of Guiseley were something to rejoice in still gives me nightmares, so for Gowling to be unsatisified by an impressive away win is encouraging indeed.
The feeling pre-season was that the squad was looking more streetwise, less liable to give cheap goals away, and likely to make the opposition feel like they’d been in a game at the end of it. All vital attributes in the National League North, and all somewhat lacking under Harris/Richards and Russell Slade. Players with Football League and National League, er, National (?) experience were being signed, rather than players from National League South, which was the case too frequently previously, and those players from the NLS consistently demonstrated why that league is seen as being significantly easier than NLN.
Whether it’s the shift to
Coventry as the training base allowing access to a wider pool of talent, or whether Gowling and Burr are just a good deal
more capable than the people who’ve been in charge since Peter Beadle, or a
combination of the two, this new-found ability to attract better players is to
be warmly welcomed. Also, the blossoming of Kyle Finn, who threatened
throughout against Gosport, offers yet more evidence that Josh can spot a player
and give him the confidence to play to his potential. He backed the
young winger from the start of his tenure as head coach, which raised a few eyebrows among the Hereford faithful at the time.
OK, by my reckoning there are only two out-and-out strikers on the payroll, and both, in all honesty, look brittle, but if Lenny John-Lewis can stay fit there are goalscoring threats who can play off him, even if they’re nominally midfielders. Goals are goals after all, whoever scores them. Worryingly, however, the talismanic striker limped off in the second half on Saturday, and must be a doubt.
On a bighter note, with Gowling doing a bit
of a Supermarket Sweep last Friday, throwing players into his trolley faster
than their arrival could be reported, there are suddenly plenty of exciting
looking options at the back and in midfield awaiting a start if any of Saturday’s
starting XI are feeling knocks picked up from what sounded like a fairly robust
Gosport outfit.
In Hereford’s two seasons against Southport in NLN to date, things could have gone better, with the Bulls picking up a solitary point from the four games. That said, Southport have only managed mid-table finishes over those two seasons, albeit still ending both above Hereford, who in fairness have only really finished above the whipping boys since joining elite-level football. Could that all be about to change with some long-awaited off-field stability? Here’s hoping.
Another solid display and three points here will leave Bulls fans with bittersweet feelings. Delighted at the start to the season, but frustrated that they can’t welcome this promising new squad out onto the Edgar Street turf on Saturday, as the club host Bradford Park Avenue for the first home game of the season.
COYW