Hereford Hammered in Horror Show

Grim. Even though some players knew they were leaving this display epitomised the lack of character shown throughout the season. The inconsistency. The blame and excuse culture. The failure for a whole season to bounce back and win once when going behind. Take the lassitude of the home defeat to Peterborough Sports add the dross of Heybridge and you get the worst result in the history of Hereford FC. The score did not flatter a fully committed Blyth. Indeed a better quality team with sharper finishing could have been heading for double figures.

Two positives. Although not fit enough to play captain Hodgkiss traveled and pre-match was running circuits around the pitch as part of his recovery. A professional. It must have been a very frustrating season for him with some players not having his standards. New chair Chris Ammonds was present and circulating around Hereford fans before the game, giving generously of his time. At the end he walked to where the Hereford fans would exit to again make himself accountable. Acccountability off the pitch, but not on it.

Several players did not travel. Kane Thompson-Sommers final Hereford moment will be his inability to control a simple ball and tap it into an empty net, instead blasting over. Miss of the season. Dan Jarvis had not recovered from the injury he picked up against Bradford Park Avenue. Aaron Amadi-Holloway was not present. 

Eve continued in goal. Egan, Pendley, Lilly and Evans were an unchanged defence. Captain Haines sat with McLean, Pinchard and Lloyd behind Storey and Barnett.

On the bench were young keeper Osment, Derricott, loanee Lawton, Hanson and from the youth set up Cam Davies. 

Blyth were up for it. Green and white cards on every seat to be held up as the ropey PA cranked out Slade’s Cum on Feel the Noize as the teams came out. The crowd doubled to 1,533 with about 60 from the Shire responded to create the atmosphere which makes Blyth a proper football day out. The home fans singing from the start, We Are Blyth. The game started equally and a Pinchard corner was headed on target by Pendley, Mitchell palming out to Barnett who put it wide.  Haines saw the keeper off his line and tried a 45 yard shot but it was catching practice for the keeper.

Blyth had been probing down the left. Sunderland loanee Spellman nutmegged Egan and jinked into the box. Pendley came to challenge but the youngster shot across him into the far netting. A fine finish which saw any Blyth nerves dissipated. 

Veteran captain Deverdics was prompting in left midfield and together with Spellman was causing problems. Egan gave away a free kick challenging Main and Deverdics hit it straight at Eve.

Spellman and Deverdics combined down the left to leave the captain in plenty of space to craft an inviting cross to the far side of the box. Main leaping with little challenge from Lilly to head home giving Eve no chance. Blyth celebrated and Hereford crumpled. 

Hereford played on but many were going through the motions. Klukowski called out to McLean and Egan making it clear that the right hand side of the defence where both goals had been created needed attention. Both Egan and McLean made it clear from their hand gestures that they were doing what they could and playing as they had been prepared.

This was reminiscent of Darlington where Klukowski had the same mid game discussions with Holmes who gave the same kind of response. Holmes left that night. Yesterday he came on as a substitute for Halesowen and created their last minute equaliser. He then made the winner in extra time to clinch his promotion play off medal and will play in a division below Hereford next season.

Bulls fans are puzzled with Egan’s loss of form. So impressive in his previous spell it is to be hoped he can rediscover that consistency next year. McLean broke and crossed to Barnett who put it wide. Haines tried another long shot from the half way line and caught out the keeper but his effort went wide. Pinchard was booked for a tactical foul on McGowan who was winning the central midfield battle.

Generally though the game was with Blyth and they were playing in Hereford’s half. There were insufficient challenges and no organised press. Blyth were winning possession easily and were wasteful. Main put a simple chance wide when he should have scored. 

Hereford came out with no sense in the second half that they were more motivated than in the first half. J J O’Donnell’s darting runs had already caused Hereford problems and Hereford had done nothing during the break to address this. Another run down the right saw him square to Main in the box. Lilly lunged in when he did not have to, for a stone cold penalty. Lilly had a good spell of form when he returned to the team after Xmas and his quality passing is beneficial. However, this was yet another game where his mistakes lead to goals. Telford who were relegated this season did not retain Lilly last summer, and Gowling’s decision to sign Zak has not worked out. Lilly was booked and captain Deverdics blasted into the top corner.

Last season Luke Haines was a leader. He played well and was inspirational. This season his double figures bookings and red cards have made him a liability. Likeable Luke has said he knows he has to address his indiscipline and said that being captain helped him play more responsibly. At 3 0 the game was done. Yet he jumped in two footed on McGowan from the side. An awful challenge that could have damaged the talented midfielder. The red card was clear and obvious. A sad way for Luke to take his leave, apologising profusely like the gentleman he is. Again it is to be hoped he can rediscover the form he showed previously in future, he leaves memories of glorious goals and lustrous long range passing when on his game.

Lloyd picked up the armband and the holding role, Storey dropping back more. Hereford were all over the place. Lilly tried to dribble past Main and lost the ball, only the poor finishing again of the Blyth striker saving Zak’s embarrassment. McGowan shot at Eve who made a tidy save. 

When Holmes argued on field with Klukowski he was subbed. It was no surprise to see McLean and Egan who had both disagreed with Yan taken off and replaced by Hanson and Derricott. Earlier in the first half Lilly and Barnett had a discussion which neither were happy with the conclusion of. The team and management were disputatious. Blyth did not care about Hereford’s unhappiness and started to enjoy themselves as latest scores came in indicating that thanks to Kidderminster they were safe.

Blyth’s crowd roared them on. Hereford still could not cope with Blyth’s left flank with the trio of Spellman-Deverdics-O’Donnell passing and moving at ease. Spellman and Deverdics had scored. O’Donnell joined the party meeting a Spellman cross with a shot from range to make it four. Blyth took the wasteful Main off and brought on Ferguson. 

On a day when things went for Blyth this was a master stroke. O’Donnell yet again got forward, crossed and with possibly his first touch Ferguson fired in hard and low to make it five. 

Hereford brought on Lawson for Barnett to try and staunch the flow of goals. 

Lawson Wore Holmes's Shirt

Blyth brought on Eldson for Lees. It was all Blyth. Their manager Graham Fenton showed some class to substitute Deverdics for Richardson just before the end. The Blyth crowd rose as one to applaud the skipper off. Even when Hereford have been beating the Spartans his class has shone through and today was his day in the sun, although the sky was grey and overcast.

Miles Storey finished the game committed as ever getting unnecessarily booked. When the whistle went he was the first to acknowledge the Hereford supporters and came over and exchanged a few words. Derricott followed and Lloyd came and engaged, fans thanking him for all he has done for the club.

We will not know what caused players to be told their futures on Thursday but here’s my utter speculation. The problem lies not with the players, nor the managers but the Chairmen. It is hard to criticise people who give freely of their time, put money into the club at every game they attend and take nothing out of the club. Yet the reality is Hereford have lost hundreds of thousands in the last three years. No other club in the division has come close to wasting half a million pounds. Some apologists say to allow for COVID/recession/Ukraine but all Hereford’s peers do better.

There has been a poisonous narrative that Hereford have a poor budget. Hereford are always in the top three for attendances and at NLN level that’s the biggest source of income. Hereford have had at this level plenty of money it has just been overspent badly. The cost of managerial changes. The excuses about injuries with no contingencies ever allowed for the fact that football is a contact sport where injuries are normal. Competitor clubs keep reserves, Hereford have splurged.

The club’s articles do not allow it to go into deficit. Within our memories we have lost the club we love there’s a good reason to be prudent. There are benefactors who have been generous and some continue to boost the budget. There is no multi-millionaire who wants to buy out the club in an agreed way with guarantees. Fans at Wrexham were oh so lucky. Look at Hartlepool relegated and with bad feeling, that sadly is more typical. Fairy godmothers and godfathers are rare creatures. It is wistful thinking to ask that someone should just pour money in. 

Hereford have one of the top grounds in the division and a resilient fan base which has increased attendances in a poor season. There’s a guaranteed cash flow far better than most in the division, and better than some in the National League. What is needed is a total reset. A budget to be kept to, not overspent from day one. Some of Hereford’s players have been very well paid for the level. So when releasing it maybe a case of saying we’re not going to make a lesser financial offer that we know you will not entertain. I think Luke Haines has great potential but on current form he will miss ten games a season through suspension. That’s expensive to be paying ten week’s salary for no return.

Such luxuries have been tolerated and losses incurred, that can’t go on. Other players have arrived with records of missing games through injury, and then the club has been surprised that they get injured again. Unexpected injuries are Brad Wade breaking his arm making a save, or Jack Evans doing the same through commitment. Too much of the propaganda “injury crisis” has been the normal strains and knocks of football That some try to spin this otherwise is part of the excuse culture that has been too prevalent.

When Klukowski talked about having a no excuse culture he prefaced it by saying that Leamington had a difficult pitch. An excuse. In NLN you get difficult pitches and plastic ones. They are not problems they are part of the rich tapestry of the game. (Although most Bulls fans seem glad to not be going to Leamington and Kettering next season!)

As Mark Jones has pointed out Yan claiming that he has achieved a record points total when he has had four more games is wrong. It is the sort of culture which needs to be challenged throughout the club. Arguing with players mid match at Darlington and Blyth suggest some deep seated issues in the dressing room. The fans ache for a come from behind victory, it has been more than a year.

So a total reset sometimes means that so to speak some babies get thrown out with the bath water. There are players released I would have kept but I do not know their injury prognosis and more importantly I do not know the financial arrangements they were on. Some innocents will be lost in a cultural revolution but that is what is needed.

The new Chairman talks well, he’s a distinguished professional communicator. Caddis will be impressive on Tuesday. Both know though that without following through into actions it will mean nothing. Caddis’s first action was to sit down with players, look them in their eyes and talk to them about their future with Hereford FC. I think that’s admirable, I would far rather that than a phone call or message this coming week. It also clears the decks so he can be first in the race to secure next season’s talents. Ultimately losing to Blyth means nothing. It was a sacrifice effectively. The club has been poor in securing players and has too often been slow to get signings. Quality players like Pollock and Kouhyar have walked away for nothing. That should change too. Most clubs in the division receive a transfer fee or two from time to time. Hereford do not.

This was a truly awful performance. Eve could do nothing about the goals so would be my man of the match despite conceding five! He made some good saves and deals well with crosses.

Thank you for reading so far and for reading Bulls News match reports. We are always looking for new reporters so please get in touch if you would like to write. My thanks to all the fans who help me writing reports.

The darkest hour is before the dawn…..