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If you could choose an opponent in a similar state of disarray in National League North as Hereford you’d probably go for Brackley. They sacked their second manager of the season following a Good Friday defeat at home to already-relegated Telford, who are managed by the manager they started the season with, and they’ve lost six of their last ten, only winning one. They’re still fourth having built up a great big reserve of points in the first half of the season, but if current form continues they won’t be there for long, and indeed could quite easily miss out on play-off participation entirely. Club captain Gareth Dean will take charge for this match, although he won’t be both playing and managing as he’s injured.
Brackley never score many of course, basing their typically lofty finishing league positions on 1-0 wins, but this season away from home they’ve managed to score fewer goals than Bradford have on their travels, and Bradford are odds-on relegation candidates. Callum Stead has scored a quarter of the Saints’ goals this season with 12. He could partner one of the more unlikely ex-Bull returnees of the NLN years – Theo Robinson. He played an hour for his new club in the Telford loss, and should feature in some capacity here. Another ex-Bull, Jordan Cullinane-Liburd, is now a fixture in central defence for them.
That sort of opposition profile in terms of recent form would normally point to a degree of optimism among home fans for this one, but on Friday, yet again, a club struggling to beat anyone beat Hereford. It has happened so many times, and that situation rarely ends well for the team getting beaten repeatedly by teams unable to buy a win anywhere else.
Son of Eric reported that fans’ patience finally seemed to have snapped at Leamington, with a significant number of travelling supporters making their feelings known. It’s entirely understandable - two goals in seven games is shocking, and is a glaring, claxon-blaring definition of relegation form, and it shouts from the rooftops that this squad of players collectively isn’t good enough for this level, which, given the CVs of most of them, is a bit damning.
A reaction has been anticipated for some weeks now and has singularly failed to materialise, with results and performances generally getting worse, although having said that the showings most recently against Boston and Leamington haven’t been the worst of the season. There would therefore be no logic in expecting that reaction suddenly here, other than the fact that the added motivation of a very real threat of going down is now in the mix, and perhaps that will be the thing that finally forces the team to wake up and smell the coffee, and belatedly drag itself out of its malaise and to safety.
Taking the lead would appear to be absolutely vital here as the Bulls just find it impossible to recover from a losing position, largely because they find it almost impossible to score a goal, and getting that lead could need a huge slice of luck of some sort, or to play Aaron Amadi-Holloway up front maybe. Perhaps with that lead a switch will be flicked, the floodgates will open and everyone can finally go home happy after a match, apart from those who were looking forward to biting their nails until the bitter end of the season.
Brackley have definitely been in the ‘bogey team’ category since Hereford rose to the NLN, with the Bulls winning just one in the eight meetings. Now would be a good time to start improving on that record, and this could be the first of those head-to-heads that Brackley have gone into with dented confidence and cracks in their usual ruthless efficiency.
Jack Holmes has now left Edgar Street, dropping back down the pyramid with a return to Halesowen and a guaranteed starting place, but Harry Pinchard, on the evidence of his performance at Leamington, looks keen to make an impact as Holmes’ replacement.
It seems a bit curious to have rested Ryan Lloyd recently if he’s fully fit, given that he’s always fairly certain to make a difference in a good way, so it seems likely that he hasn’t fully recovered from the injury that kept him out earlier in the season. Either that or he’s tired out from bearing the responsibility, along with AAH, of making a difference in a good way.
It’s a refreshingly transparent gesture on the part of Chris Ammonds to host a fans forum prior to this game, and is hopefully an early indication of a new and more inclusive approach from the new chairman. If he can provide any encouraging news for next season and beyond it could do something to arrest what is surely otherwise going to be an alarming slide in the number of season ticket renewals.
Overall the fans have been incredibly patient this season, with home attendances only falling markedly in recent weeks, but that patience has now evaporated. It’s down to the players from here on in to give something back.
COYW