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The Mariners’ pre-season was a curious one, in that Kevin Phillips, the ex-top flight goal-getter and the manager who took them up to the NLN from the Northern Premier League last season, decided to leave the club 30 minutes after the final game of last season, in what looked to be a difference of opinion between him and club owner Geoff Thompson over what constituted financial sustainability. Given that money’s virtually no object at the club, one can only assume Philips had Mbappe and Jarrod Bowen on his shopping list to provoke such a disagreement.
Phillips’s fellow ex-Makem Julio Arca took over having been with the club since its sugar daddy-fuelled propulsion up the divisions from 2015, and the full-timers have started at this higher level like an express train, second in the league currently behind surprise package Tamworth.
They were surprisingly knocked out of the Cup last weekend at Leek however, with the Staffordshire side easing through 2-0 against their higher-graded opponents. The match was shown on terrestrial television, and the pressure of being on the BBC’s red button clearly got to the NLN’s second-placed side.
They’ve won all five of their home league matches to date, conceding just one goal, and the obvious conclusion to draw from that is that such a run can’t continue forever, right?
That form is very much a continuation of last season’s, when they only lost twice in 21 games at home in winning the Northern League Premier Division title.
Aaron Martin, Paul Blackett and Jediael Abbey have all been among the goals for them so far. Martin moved in the summer from Gateshead, and has six goals in ten games, Blackett similarly joined the club this season from Spennymoor, in what was a telling move in demonstrating that South Shields seem to be the big fish in the NLN northeastern contingent pond. Blackett is thoroughly proven as a goalscorer at this level, and those two look to be a dangerous partnership.
However, Paul Downing and Kyle Howkins look to be forming a very encouraging partnership of their own in the centre of the Hereford defence, so it will be an intriguing sub-plot involving those four here. Having said that, Blackett was reportedly a doubt for the Leek game but ended up playing 90 minutes. His injury record isn’t exactly unblemished so there’s a chance he may not be a starter here, or if he is he might not be able to run very fast.
The aforementioned Jed Abbey has been at Telford and Alvechurch in recent seasons, a CV that would normally make the young Dutch midfielder a possible Hereford target, but no, he’s ended up many miles away instead. Perhaps the yawning gap in playing budgets between these two clubs was a factor.
In addition to those three, they can also call on the services of striker Luke James, yet another summer arrival, and a player with bags of Football League experience. Admittedly he’s never been the most prolific goalscorer, but he’s never played this low before, and he’s scored twice this season so far.
With the backing of Geoff Thompson and the revenue from 1000+ season ticket sales, one gets the impression that if their good start to this season were to slow they could simply make a mid-season raid on Blyth, Darlo and Spennymoor for their better players.
As for the visitors, huge credit must be given to the manager and players for a 100% win record over the last three games. They haven’t had too much luck with injuries this season, but they’ve ground results out recently whilst the club’s strikers regain fitness. OK, the Cup wins have been against smaller clubs, but they still needed to be beaten, which South Shields failed to do last week against a team at the same level as Cambridge City and Anstey Nomads.
That Bulls win over Cambridge last weekend showed more fluency than the one before against Bishop’s Stortford, but there will need to be another step up in terms of performance levels here. The Bulls are friendless in the betting markets for this one, available at 4/1.
The club’s record in the northeast so far this season hasn’t been good, in fact it’s very much been the opposite of good, with defeats at Blyth and Spennymoor contributing to a depressing run of poor form in late August/early September. However, there’s a feeling that the players are now more of a unit, and are now in the winning habit.
What would be nice is if a few people who went to Tamworth but didn’t go to Chester made the trip up for this one and saw a Bulls win. Surely the least they deserve.
A big game then, and the experience of Downing, Howkins and Jordan Lyden will be crucial in keeping the Bulls in the game, and coaxing the best out of the other players.
4/1 outsiders? Absolute piffle.
COYW