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Briefly on Tuesday night, as the Bulls created chance after chance in the first half against Chorley, a real feeling pervaded that the last ten games of the season could return enough points to storm into the play-offs. All thoughts about how on earth the club would compete in the division above if an unlikely promotion was secured were parked as fans awaited that seemingly inevitable opening goal from the visitors. It didn’t come, and hopes were dashed of course when Chorley deployed their six-yard box finishing prowess in the second half, something that Hereford have lacked all season, and the 2022/23 play-off dream finally guttered and spluttered out for good.
However, factoring in the essential summer recruitment of a goal hanger (Gary Lineker, for instance, could soon be looking for a role), there have been signs under Yan Klukowski that yet more wholesale squad changes in the close season may not be needed after all, and that with a bit more luck with injuries, and some judicious use of the loan market, the new manager could retain a good few of this season’s players, and reasonably expect to get a bit of a tune out of them.
It would be easy to suggest that Telford have about as much left to play for as Hereford given how rooted to the bottom of the table they are, but a thrashing of Bradford at home on Tuesday, seemingly coming from absolutely nowhere, suggests that they’re still up for the fight.
That 4-0 victory over their fellow relegation near-certainties was remarkable firstly in that it brought to an end an 11-game winless run which has surely extinguished any fading hopes of survival which were being carefully kindled over the post-Christmas period, but mostly because the visitors contrived to achieve what no-one else has remotely looked like managing all season, getting comprehensively stuffed by what is widely accepted to be the worst Telford team in living memory (Bucks fans’ own assessment).
The Bucks are in many ways somewhat transformed since ex-Brackley manager Kevin Wilkin rolled into town and began unpicking some of the more obvious, er, eccentricities of the former managerial regime. Defensively they’ve gone from circus act to something far more streetwise and cohesive, and generally look a bit less like a group of strangers dragged in off the street at 2pm on matchday and hastily introduced to one another in the dressing room.
Most notably perhaps, Wilkin has impressively managed to transform the form of central defender Harry Flowers. Signed on a three-year deal to great fanfare, the start he made to his Bucks career was so poor that his car was allegedly vandalised by disgruntled Telford fans in the car park following one particularly catastrophic Saturday afternoon. The former Curzon Ashton man now looks every inch the player Telford thought they were signing last summer.
Left back Adam Livingston has proved a useful addition since arriving at the start of 2023 with his ability to get forward down the left flank, and while veteran winger Brendon Daniels has been deployed in a variety of roles this season, he remains a threat from set pieces and when operating in his more familiar left-wing position. For all that, they are still pretty poor and utterly devoid of confidence, although Tuesday's win may help with that.
That trace of improving defensive cohesion has come at the expense of attacking prowess, and the loss of target-man Jason Oswell to injury earlier this season has certainly been an important factor in their inability to turn a sinking ship of a season around. In his stead is Montel Gibson, plucked on loan from Ilkeston, who carries the line well for Telford despite a paucity of supply. Having scored a goal a game for Stourbridge last season before his dream move to Ilkeston, the forward is blessed with the sort of pace and finishing ability which has seen him play for Notts County and Grimsby as a youngster.
Home games haven’t, in the main, been things of beauty overall recently, but Hereford’s home record against Telford is nothing short of quite encouraging. Yep, that good. Three of the four matches between these clubs at the home of football have ended the right way, although they’ve all been narrow 1-0 wins.
Back in November, the Bulls returned from the Bucks Head with the points following an attritional 1-0 win that very much brought to mind Graham Turner’s ‘Never mind the quality, feel the points’ observation from more years ago than I care to look up, as it’ll make me panic about mortality. This promises to offer more in terms of entertainment (primarily because it would be impossible not to), with a draw being no good to the visitors and Hereford players keen (hopefully!) to turn on the style just in case any managerial candidates are in the crowd or, who knows, in the opposing team’s dugout. On that basis this could be a good, free-flowing advert for the National League North, with a few goals in it for a change. Probably be 1-0 though. Or P-P.
COYW