Hereford FC return to Edgar Street on Saturday aiming to arrest a slump in form of late that has seen their play-off challenge falter just as they’d clawed their way into the frame. The Bulls entertain Darlington in a mid-table National League North match that’ll have older fans fondly recalling some classic mid-table 0-0 draws in the old Division 4 days.
A shortage of goals has been an issue all season, with just 36 scored in 31 games, fewer than Telford who are second bottom. New striker Mo Faal has now had time to acclimatise to the rigours of life in the NLN, but to expect him to score the goals to reignite the season is putting a lot of responsibility onto young shoulders. With Mo Touray showing signs of life last week at Leamington Josh Gowling will have to decide which Mo spearheads the Hereford attack.
With a return to a decent playing surface after the rugby pitch of last week, Hereford’s footballers can re-emerge, with Harry Pinchard perhaps given a starting place. With the current situation requiring some positive action, it would be good to see the full-backs, both capable in attacking positions, being given licence to get forward as much as possible.
The Bulls will have to average two points a game from now until the end of the regular season to even have a chance of making the play-offs. With current form seeing them averaging half a point a game, you don’t have to be Professor Stephen Hawking to figure out that there’s a disparity there.
It's fair to say that Southport are there to be shot at as their form starts to fall apart. They are of course one-dimensional one-trick ponies, and as such may have been found out, both by opposing teams and referees. However, first in the queue to do the shooting at them are Boston, Curzon Ashton and a resurgent Spennymoor. The latter are regular play-off contestants and look to be timing their late rattle perfectly. These clubs have all recently coasted past a stuttering Hereford, and all have games in hand and better form.
Results in midweek for the clubs around the Bulls in the table could have been worse, but have, nevertheless, resulted in them slipping to 11th place, two places and three points above Saturday’s visitors.
With free-scoring Luke Charman leaving Darlington in January to go to Rochdale for a very precise £43k (or about a day’s pay for Cristiano Ronaldo), Tyrone O’Neill was brought in as a replacement on loan from Scunthorpe. He’s managed a less-than-intimidating two goals in ten games so far, round about par for a player unwanted by Scunthorpe, I suppose.
However, the Quakers have really upped their game of late, winning four of their last six after losing four on the bounce before that. Adriano Moke joined them in midweek, and the ex-York man looks like a quality signing for the visitors. His arrival suggests that Darlington themselves haven’t given up on a seventh place finish. If the money’s just not there for Hereford to similarly do some last-minute squad bolstering as a final throw of the dice it's right and proper not to do so, but it does suggest that the budget is now somewhere in the bottom half of the division, which remains strange given Edgar Street gate receipts compared to those of other clubs. Having said that, it’s safe to assume that the number of plaything money-pit clubs far outweighs the commercially viable ones in the NLN, and it’s not easy to compete in a financially sensible way with a Lancastrian egomaniac who’s made it big in compost and is determined to give his club one season in the Football League on crowds of 87.
As far as this match is concerned and looking on the bright side, with no chance of going down and play-off qualification now out of their hands, there may be a sense in the squad that the pressure has lifted a little and they can play with a bit more freedom (as well as for contracts). That may result in an entertaining game on Saturday, and the Bulls haven’t lost to Darlington since somewhat carelessly losing the ‘United’ from the club’s name, so there’s that record to defend too. Also, this fixture has tended to produce goals over the last few seasons, and I still think that Seb Revan has it in him to imminently produce a flying-past-three-men-and-unleashing-an-unstoppable-shot wondergoal.
A win here and hope will once more spring eternal, or if not eternal at least another week. A draw or a loss (shudder) would leave ten dead rubbers to look forward to between now and 7 May. Oh, plus the magic of the HFA County Cup.
You really don’t want to be travelling to Blyth, Spennymoor or Gateshead with nothing to play for. Quite an incentive to win here then.
COYW