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Aurio Teixeira’s response to being dropped when coming on in the second half on Saturday was precisely what Paul Caddis would have wanted from him. If he starts instead of Jordan Lyden here he’ll know he’ll have to deliver more of the same to keep his place, and if he comes off the bench to replace Lyden he’ll presumably again play with a controlled determination, borne of frustration from having to come on as a sub, that should again be hugely effective and impactful. The advantages of a strong squad.
It was noticeable at the end of the Spennymoor game that none of their defenders wanted to shake Jason Cowley’s hand. Finally we have a striker who genuinely rattles National League North defences (and scores goals like THAT one). Brilliant - long may it continue.
Tuesday’s hosts are a dangerous combination of being local rivals and impossible to read form-wise. They’ve recently looked like they’re starting to rescue what has to date been a horrible season, with wins against Spennymoor, Peterborough and Curzon Ashton. However, they’ve also found a way to lose at home to struggling Darlington, and on Saturday lost 1-0 at Farsley, with the hosts playing the last half-hour with ten men. Their struggles since August contrast sharply with the end of last season when they went on a smashing run that got them to the play-offs, where they lost to serial chokers Brackley.
The playing surface here will be similar to what double Gloucester used to be presented on for sale in Hereford’s Butter Market when I was little. It was great for that purpose because a chunk of double Gloucester was never in danger of sustaining a career-threatening injury from sitting on it. It’s a different scenario for footballers, and everything will be crossed for the wellbeing of Jordan Lyden and Andy Williams as they take to the drastic plastic. How nice, incidentally, to talk about them as being fit and available for selection.
The Tigers’ reasonable home form is what’s currently preventing them from propping up the rest of the league. They’ve won five of their 12 games at Meadow Park, or the TigerTurf Stadium if you must, presumably helped to an extent by being used to the artificial surface.
There isn’t currently the generous smattering of ex-Hereford players in the Gloucester squad that there has been in recent seasons. Harry Pinchard will be pulling the strings in midfield having taken over that role from fellow ex-Bull Tommy O’Sullivan, but as technically proficient as he is he didn’t regularly show at Hereford the incisive bursts of a Babos, a Pugh or, on Saturday, a Teixeira. I don’t know, maybe such positivity was coached out of him whilst at Edgar Street under the previous regime.
Cheltenham-born midfielder Tyrone Duffus was briefly with Hereford on loan six years ago and I seem to remember him looking very promising, but his trajectory seems to have stalled.
Much-travelled Danny Wright was brought in last summer to deliver on the goals front, but age seems to have caught up with the 39-year-old, and he’s only managed three. Attacking midfielder Brandon Smalley has done significantly better with seven, and like Pinchard is a threat from set pieces, although he’s easing himself back following a recent injury and may not start.
Shrewsbury-born Elliott Durrell is, like Danny Wright, no spring chicken, but the ex-Wrexham, York, Chester and Macclesfield midfielder has a rock-solid CV.
Defender Max Ram has a name that couldn’t ooze testosterone more if it tried, although his middle name ‘Benjamin’ ruins things a bit, and really should be ‘Thor’ or ‘Nails’.
Whoever’s chosen to play at right back may be well advised to call in sick given the form of a certain Hereford left winger.
The club lost the
services of Dom McHale and Matt McClure in the summer, with the latter lured to
the Manchester City of the National League South, Chippenham, presumably for a not-too-mysterious
reason unrelated to the glamour or rocking atmosphere there. Those two have been missed.
The Tim Flowers/Yan Klukowski managerial partnership unveiled in the summer lasted all the way through to 18 September before they were shown the door, and ex-manager Mike Cook returned to the club for another crack at it.
The head-to-head situation isn’t amazing in all honesty. Gloucester achieved a very comfortable double over Josh Gowling’s side last season, and have won four of the six games between these clubs, with none of the six drawn. However, Gowling’s sides never beat Spennymoor at Edgar Street either; in fact, no Hereford side had. Paul Caddis’s squad is different in finding a way to win games, and is revising previously poor records as the season progresses, so head-to-heads should be taken with a pinch of salt, or chucked in the bin entirely.
A sold-out away end should ensure some lusty vocal backing for the visitors, and another win here could propel the Bulls into the top three, and would strongly suggest a 3000+ crowd for the New Year’s Day game.
I’ll tread a bit more caerphilly with the cheese references when previewing that one.
COYW