Hereford FC attempt to play another match in the northeast on Saturday, as their stop-start season tries its best to splutter into life. A fortnight ago, several thousand miles into the journey and therefore still some way short of Spennymoor, pandemic concerns were raised on the coach and the game was postponed. A clean bill of health has since been declared in the Hereford camp (although apparently too late to save the Kettering and Chester games from the same fate), and it’s therefore time to hit the road again.
This time the satnav will need to be very slightly tweaked to point to Blyth, as the Bulls go into battle against the Spartans in National League North’s take on Thermopylae, though it’s likely that the latter battle didn’t take place behind closed doors. I dunno, maybe it did, it’s all Greek to me.
Blyth had been showing signs early in the season that they were set to play the role of divisional whipping boys again this time around, after enduring a torrid old time in 2019/20 at the foot of the table. Heavy losses against Gloucester and Guiseley on their way to picking up just a point in their opening five league games (and getting dumped out of the Cup by something called Marske United) suggested that beardy boss Michael Nelson hadn’t been able to turn things around over the elongated summer break.
However, things have improved recently, with a 3-0 win at Curzon Ashton lifting Spartans off the bottom of the table. Striker Paul Blackett, on loan from Gateshead, took his goal tally for the season to five in six games with a brace in that victory, and is well thought of by the Spartans’ coaching staff. That win was followed by a 1-1 home draw with Farsley Celtic in midweek, with Blackett adding another to his total with an injury-time leveller.
However, the Nash are perennially pretty awful, and there’s no danger of anyone ever mistaking Farsley Celtic for their Glaswegian namesakes, so that recent relative upturn in form needn’t cause too many butterflies in Hereford tummies. Also, Saturday’s hosts still have a goal difference markedly worse than anyone else’s, so their defence looks ripe for the picking. A few Bulls goals from open play would be nice as there haven’t been any yet in three league games, with just one penalty scored.
Hereford go into this one apparently virus-free, and well rested having been out of action since the disappointing home loss to Bradford Park Avenue. Whether that break leaves the players a little too rested and therefore rusty remains to be seen.
The squad is approaching a return to full strength, with striker Demetri Brown training again, and Ben Pollock back in contention following his summer knee op. Toby Raison is also back from his loan spell at Westfields. Supporters will be keen to see what Brown is capable of if he gets the chance to play a part here, and he’d presumably fancy it against that charitable defence.
Last season, the Bulls beat Blyth 1-0 at Croft Park, courtesy of a Mike Symons goal, with the return match at Edgar Street falling victim to the premature curtailment of the season. Another victory will do very nicely, and secure a mid-table position with hardly any games played, which is a neat trick to pull off.
Three home games in a row follow this one (it was four until the York one was pulled) which still somehow feels like a nice situation to be in, in terms of picking up a few points, but then you remember that home advantage makes little or no difference at the moment. In fact, against Bradford the only difference it made was to ruin what could have been a perfectly pleasant Tuesday evening.
Football fans have notoriously short memories (I, for instance, often forget that my reading glasses are on my head when looking for them), so a big performance and return to winning ways here would go some way to consigning that Bradford defeat to history. It would also put a smile on the face of the latest chairman, who will hopefully be keen to actually stick around in the role for a bit, giving some much needed top-down stability and long-termism to the club in doing so.
COYW