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So, Torquay at home. What a perfect draw in the FA Trophy (brought to you by Isuzu).
For those people who found the appeal of South Park’s visit in the last round a bit meh this one should tickle your fancy, certainly if you’re ‘of a certain age’.
If you are of that certain age, there are two things at play here.
Firstly, Torquay’s visit will bring to mind many previous encounters with Hereford United in what used to be known as ‘Division 4’. Division 4 existed in the days before sponsorship, or at least it did for the majority of its existence. Division 4 wasn’t ‘brought to you by Isuzu’ or ‘Rupert Murdoch’. Division 4 didn’t need to be called anything other than ‘Division 4’ – the product offered by it was so amazing that it didn’t need any seedy sponsorship to sell it. I remember Hereford leading Torquay 4-1 at half time once in Division 4 – that’s how good it was. OK, I think the match ended 4-1 too, but Division 4 was so good it didn’t care about second halves. Didn’t really need them. Hereford won every match 4-1 in Division 4.
Secondly, Gary Johnson. Johnson’s regular raids on Edgar Street for our crown jewels in the noughties as manager of Yeovil (Gavin Williams and Michael Rose were poached for bobbins, following Colin Addison taking Michael McIndoe down to Somerset) still rankle. Well, they certainly still rankle with me at least seemingly, which I hadn’t fully appreciated before starting this rant. However, quite a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then and it’ll be nice to see the fella back as Torquay manager, as long as he doesn’t mastermind a win.
So all in all there’s a bit of history here that it was a bit difficult to attempt to dredge up/make up for the South Park game, or indeed for the vast majority of league games. This is an encounter between two footballing names who used to be among a handful of clubs who more or less defined the term ‘re-election’ (OK, maybe not every game was won 4-1), but as useless as that seemed at the time it was at a more exalted level than that which the clubs in their current iterations now find themselves.
Hereford FC are on their way up having started again of course, but Torquay, like Scunthorpe, have simply been on a general downward trajectory for a long time. As a result, they find themselves currently in the National League South, along with Johnson’s aforementioned ex-dirty plaything Yeovil, and Chippenham, who seem to be collecting Hereford and Gloucester cast-offs at no little expense, and very little positive impact.
The full-time Gulls are going well enough in the NLS, although they’re some way behind Yeovil who appear to be far too good for step 2, which offers further evidence to suggest that a Bulls promotion would need considerable investment to consolidate it given that Yeovil couldn’t cope with step 1.
Torquay are good at home but a bit patchy away, and they don’t draw. Hereford generally don’t draw either, so presumably this will end in a draw and an exciting penalty shoot-out after 90 minutes. If that eventuality comes to pass I’d hope the shoot-out would take place in front of the Meadow End, as it would seem to be a bit deflating and anti-climactic all round if it was up the Blackfriars End in front of one ballboy doing that thing with his phone to try to put off the visiting penalty taker. I imagine that would be frowned upon anyway as a breach of ballboy etiquette.
Brad Ash spent the 2019/20 season as a Hereford player but was loaned out to Weston-super-Mare for much of that time. He has eight goals this season for the Gulls, with Aaron Jarvis weighing in with seven. There are lots of absences in the Torquay camp according to Gary Johnson, but then he would say that wouldn’t he?
The Bulls have their own gaps to fill, with Alex Babos and Paul Downing potentially missing with tight hamstrings. Also, I assumed Jason Cowley would be free to play in this before his suspension starts in the league next time as it’s a different competition, but apparently not. I’ll never understand the rules. One positive from last Saturday was the return of Mark Derricott, who may get a start here if considered fit enough. The need for Kyle Howkins’ return feels gradually more pressing as the weeks go by without him included. A return here would be warmly welcomed.
Other things to feel positive about include Tom Pugh staying for the rest of the season, and the arrival of Tope Obadeyi, who could make his debut here, unless he’s cup-tied. If he’s able to inflict the same carnage on the opposition as the player on the other wing it’ll be quite a spectacle.
The winners pick up £5250, which is coincidentally what Gary Johnson used to pick Hereford’s best players up for when he was at Yeovil.
This is the ninth home draw in a row. If I was a probabilityist I’d be having kittens with excitement. Ten in a row would presumably start to either get about as improbable as the birth of the universe or suggest that Paul Caddis has incriminating photos of whoever’s in charge of the sacred velvet bag at the FA.
Ten in a row? Need to win this first, preferably not on pens.
COYW