Hot on the heels of Saturday’s smashing win against Fylde, Hereford FC take a first tentative step on the road to Wembley with an FA Trophy second round tie on Tuesday evening against St Neots Town at Edgar Street, kick off 7:45pm.
What can be said about St Neots Town that hasn’t been said already? Well, OK, quite a lot I suppose. The Saints ply their trade in Southern League Division 1 Central, two divisions below the National League North, and a level Hereford shot through in 2016/17 with 107 points. Having done so, the Bulls then found themselves in the Southern Premier alongside, you guessed it, St Neots Town. Another promotion followed with a final points tally of 113, with St Neots finishing respectably in mid-table, but they’ve since dropped a level.
As recalled by Bulls News at the weekend, the clubs last met at Edgar Street in that very season, with Hereford narrowly winning 1-0 courtesy of a Dara O’Shea header. The Bulls won the reverse fixture in Cambridgeshire 3-1.
The visitors are no mugs, currently sitting third in their division, and averaging three goals a game after eight matches. They beat higher-graded Kings Langley in the last round 3-1 to earn this trip to Edgar Street.
This week’s ‘He’s ended up there has he?!’ award, which last week went to old Morecambe stager David Perkins, goes to 40-year-old ex-Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick. Yep, really. On Saturday, we’ll exclusively reveal that Pele plays for whoever the opposition is if victory is secured here.
Finally, and this barely needs saying, St Neots famously cropped up twice in ‘Our Tune’ by Half Man Half Biscuit.
It would be tempting to suggest resting Lenell John-Lewis for this one, but that would leave precisely no-one available to play up front, or at least no-one whose job it is to play up front. So presumably The Shop will start, and will see this as an opportunity to add a few goals to his growing seasonal tally. An announcement from the club over the weekend suggested that plans were afoot to bring a striker in, but at this time of the season it’ll be tough to find anyone both worthwhile and available. A youngster on the periphery of a League 2 club’s first team perhaps, as a loanee? It’s an approach that hasn’t been conspicuously successful when tried before in recent seasons, but a hidden gem could be rotting on the Cheltenham or FGR benches just waiting for the opportunity to play for a proper club. The search for a decent candidate will certainly be a good test of the depth of the Gowling-Burr contacts database.
Saturday’s man of the match Kennedy Digie, a player growing in stature as the season unfolds, left the pitch late in the game injured, and presumably won’t be risked here. Young Toby Raison, who seems to have really impressed Josh Gowling with his attitude, could be handed a debut as Digie’s replacement. With the squad paper thin, it would be invaluable if youngsters such as Raison can prove themselves ready to step up as viable first-teamers.
I thought the following from the Fylde camp post-match was something to really take heart from on Saturday, suggesting a togetherness in the Bulls dressing room: “Hereford worked tremendously hard for their manager. I thought we lost because of Hereford's desire to get a goal out of the game, to get something out of the game.” It’s been some time since that level of motivation has been seen, apart from in one-off big games such as those against York last year. The players clearly want to play for the management team, and credit is due all round for that.
The Bulls have slipped on enough banana skins in knockout competitions recently to ensure that no-one will see this as a foregone conclusion, but a win here will be good for confidence, and will mean that the club is back in Trophy action on Saturday. After that, it’s Kiddy in the Boxing Day match at Edgar Street, which is starting to look quite juicy.
COYW