Hereford FC return to the northwest on Tuesday following Saturday’s trip to Chester, this time for a midweek Mancunian nash-up with Curzon Ashton.
The Nash, like Chester, are a solid outfit on their own patch, losing just two of their 12 games at the Tameside Stadium this season. However they’re far from prolific, having scored just 16 goals in those 12 games, although it should be said that Hereford and even Brackley ‘boast’ similar home goalscoring records to date this season.
Their last two games have been 0-0 draws, but very different 0-0 draws in their nature. A stalemate at home to Telford this season is very much points dropped, teacups thrown in the dressing room afterwards, and a big inquest into what went wrong. A stalemate away at Mudland, Southport, on the other hand, is something to be celebrated as a triumph over all sorts of adversity.
These two sides drew 2-2 at Edgar Street in December. In what was one of the many games of two halves Hereford have been involved in this season, Curzon looked very good indeed in the second half, battling back to draw the match 2-2 after Levi Andoh had been more-or-less unplayable in the first half. The visitors showed tenacity in getting back into the game, but they also did so by playing good football and not resorting to gamesmanship, which hasn’t always been the case.
Curzon that day showed, not for the first time, that they can be a potent counterattacking force. At home, there will be more of an onus on them to control the game, which should allow the Bulls to do more of the counterattacking, something they’re proving to be very good at.
That game in December, although entertaining, was the last of several disappointing results for Hereford in the head-to-heads between these clubs since promotion to the National League North. However, head-to-heads had also been disappointing against Chester, but there is greater quality to this Hereford side than previous NLN vintages, and those records can be, and are being, rewritten accordingly.
Midfielder Adam Thomas is one to watch for the hosts, and striker Dominic Knowles and defender Harry Flowers have recently made a return to the first team after long-term injuries. Centre forward Alex Curran has been among the goals recently.
Curzon’s match against Brackley on Saturday was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, so conditions could be challenging, and with both sides keen to play the right way that admirable approach could be compromised by a heavy pitch, resulting in more direct football.
Over the last four seasons they’ve finished 18th three times, but are well placed to have a tilt at finishing in the final play-off position this time around, as they’re currently five points behind Hereford with three games in hand. That mini-league chasing seventh, featuring Curzon, Hereford, Kettering, Boston and York is a tight little unit, and the signs are that the latter are starting to throw money at bringing in the players they think will secure that final play-off spot, including a certain Lenell John-Lewis on loan from Grimsby. If rumours are to be believed, The Shop has recently expanded to become more of a supermarket, and has been sent to York to run off some of his spare aisles.
As for the visitors, what a gutsy win on Saturday. Despite never being at their fluent best, to come back twice and end up taking the points at the Deva, an absolute pig of a ground for the Bulls in recent seasons, was some performance, with the reward being a place in the play-off positions, finally. To stay there, it’ll be important not to lose to clubs in that aforementioned mini-league, such as Curzon Ashton, but with confidence returned following the Kidderminster hiccup the Bulls will be travelling north to win this one, not just to ensure that they don’t lose.
Now on nine goals, Tom Owen-Evans is one away from the target of ten for the season that he set himself. If he continues at the current rate, and if refs start to be a little kinder to the Bulls than they have been generally this season and dish out a few more penalties, he could be well on the way to doubling that target by the end of the season.
Maz Kouhyar, and perhaps later in the game Harry Pinchard, will pull the strings here for Hereford, and by the law of averages alone Miles Storey and/or Ryan McLean will surely bury a one-on-one or two here on the break.
At the back, Krystian Pearce either starts his suspension or continues it depending on who you believe, but either way Jamie Egan again provides cover.
After this, it's back to Edgar Street on Saturday to play a Southport team who look to be slowing down a little. That slowdown has meant that suddenly the gap to sixth place for Hereford looks eminently bridgeable.
This is all starting to feel a little bit...possible?
COYW