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With Hereford FC losing three of their last four league matches, and in the process looking toothless in attack and sketchy in defence, Saturday’s FA Cup match at home to Bromsgrove Sporting could give them a welcome break from the travails of life in the National League North. This could be a valuable chance to regroup and reboot before a flurry of home games which really should offer ample opportunity to earn some points and get back on track.
Bromsgrove play in the Southern League Premier Division Central, just one step below Hereford. They’re 15th, with current form as ropey as Hereford’s, but they’ll be full of beans for this one, super keen to cause an upset, and won’t have had to stay up too late doing their homework to work out that the hosts are leaky at the back.
On Tuesday they lost 1-0 at home to Redditch in the Worcestershire clasico.
Ex-Bull Mike McGrath now plays for Sporting, and will presumably be fully wound up for this one, which is good as it’ll mean he’ll be sent off after about ten minutes, before taking it upon himself to rearrange the dressing rooms. Fellow Edgar Street old boy George Forsyth is also at the club, and looked a decent player during his spell as a Bull.
Mathew Barnes-Homer, who has in his time played for Syracuse Salty Dogs, Wilmington Hammerheads (I’m not making this up) and virtually everyone in between, offers some good solid experience up front.
Three years ago Tamworth from the same division knocked Hereford out of the Cup on penalties in a replay. If that were to happen again, some very difficult conversations would presumably start to be had behind the scenes at Edgar Street.
Josh Gowling described the pace of wide men Miles Storey and Ryan McLean as ‘devastating’ after the Brackley game, but that description, until they’ve contributed more goals and assists than they’ve done so far this season, and indeed last, is more theoretical than factual. It’s a real shame to have to say that, because everyone can see the potential in both of them, everyone wants them to rip through the opposition in thrilling fashion, and both have spoken really well in the past and seem like smashing people, but there aren’t too many bottom lines in football - assists, goals and, ultimately, results are what matters, and in those areas they flatter to deceive far more than they devastate.
Emergency goalkeeper Harvey Wiles-Richards comes in from Bristol City for this one as cover for injured Brad Wade and Wade’s replacement Cian Tyler, who misses out here because Coventry don’t want him cup-tied. HWR sounds a bit like an old steam railway but looks like a good acquisition. He also fits the bill in terms of having a long name, seemingly something of a pre-requisite at Edgar Street currently.
In good news corner, Jack Evans doesn’t have a long name but seems to be improving with each game – an excellent Gowling signing. Aaron Amadi-Holloway ticks the long name box but can still seemingly only manage an hour of football, but that fitness is coming slowly, as are hints of goalscoring instinct and quality that have no place in the NLN. It’s now getting really quite pressing that those hints become reality though.
Thierry Latty-Fairweather (yes OK, another) presumably can’t be too far off regaining a starting place if a slight formation shuffle is deemed worth a try to freshen things up a bit, as he’s looked a little classier than one or two seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order so far this season.
Luke Haines should be back having pulled out of the Brackley game just before kick-off with an asthma complication. Hopefully he’ll be employed just in front of the defence to protect what the visitors will consider a slightly glass-jawed back four once they see the videos of the last few matches.
It seems obvious that something needs to change tactically rather than doing the same thing each time and hoping for a better result, because currently the Bulls look to be operating in more of an Alfreton/Farsleyish ballpark rather than a Brackley/Kidderminster one, and for a club the size of Hereford FC that’s not really good enough. Who knows, it could be as simple as Luke Haines’ switch to midfield. If Yan Klukowski replaces Steve Burr, thus saving a salary, could that money be put towards a new defender?
It’s clear from earlier in the season that the appetite is there in the city and the county to get behind the club, with 2500+ crowds perfectly achievable given a bit of success on the field, but recent performances and results have given floating voters very little incentive to go to games. A return of at least seven points from the forthcoming home games against Blyth, Peterborough and Leamington should go some way to encouraging those floaters to keep or renew the faith, but right now this season feels very much like the last.
So, everything’s gone really rather flat, but hopefully this game gives the Bulls an opportunity to create a few chances, score a few goals and, who knows, maybe even keep a clean sheet, before those three key league matches, which look like they could define the immediate future of the structure of the club. I sincerely hope they’re all won handsomely, with Messrs Storey and McLean truly devastating, and all feelings of uncertainty and dented confidence can be put to bed for the rest of the season.
COYW