Who Needs A Midfield Anyway?

‘Chester will presumably offer a good deal more class’

‘These two don’t draw with one another.’

Well folks, you sure can rely on this column for all the cutting-edge insights ahead of each game. The two pearls of wisdom above were offered before the Chester match, which of course ended in a draw, with Chester turning out to be as devoid of class and dignity as Tamworth.

Attention now turns to Saturday’s game, and who’d have thought we’d be looking at Southport as potential givers of hope for the future of the game in showing a bit of sporting Corinthian spirit, after the last two matches against depressingly cynical opponents.

It’s unlikely that they’ll come up trumps in that regard of course, being past masters of the dark arts themselves, but where in past seasons trips to Haig Avenue have been fairly tricky propositions, the Sandgrounders are having such a tough time of it at the moment that unusually this looks like a golden opportunity for Hereford to get back to winning ways and reignite that play-off push.

Current form on paper (W3 D4 L3) isn’t spectacular, but on grass the story’s more nuanced, with the sides in first and third positions in the table seemingly very relieved indeed to escape Edgar Street with draws recently.

However, you still only get a point from draws regardless of the strength of the opposition, and two points from two games means that a win would be very useful here. Suddenly Chorley, Alfreton and Boston are motoring along, and Hereford have slipped to 11^th. An unbeaten run is needed as we hit the business end of the season, an unbeaten run preferably featuring a generous helping of three-pointers. 

Aurio Teixeira misses this game and the visit to Curzon next Saturday, having amassed ten yellow cards for pointing out to referees where they’re going wrong in games. Also out for four games is Lassana Mendes for his part in the post-match melee against Tamworth. Both wingers will again be missing here too.

Jordan Lyden will presumably start in place of Teixeira, and a 90-minute showing would be encouraging for the rest of the season, and actually quite timely given that the midfield is looking somewhat empty currently due to injury and suspension. To make matters worse, Maz Kouhyar is scheduled to have completed his loan spell before Saturday. Perhaps that could be extended, or a move could be made to bring Tom Pugh back, with a wise denizen of the Len Weston Terrace suggesting on Tuesday that he wasn’t getting a game at Scunthorpe. One midfielder who is still available is Alex Babos, and his engine and dead-ball delivery on Tuesday were seemingly at a season-high level. Really impressive.

Southport nicked a 1-0 win at Edgar Street earlier in the season, in a game that highlighted the fact that Hereford were missing their strikers. Those strikers are now playing and gradually developing an understanding. It would be nice to go with both again here in the currently somewhat enforced 5-3-2 combo. It would also be nice for Aaron Skinner to pop up with a goal or at least an assist as a reward for being so spectacularly good this season.

Yet another thing that would be nice is if the ball dropped kindly for once in the six-yard box. I know I’m biased, but the six-yard box gods have always seemed to give the lucky breaks to the opposition this season, and not to Hereford FC. It would be a good time for that luck to change between now and the end of 2023/24.

Oh and a referee who’s not afraid to confront, and take action against, cheaty types early in the game would be good too.

Saturday’s hosts have lost six of their last ten games, but won two of their last three. They’ve scored fewer goals at home than Bishops Stortford, and that’s a pretty damning situation to find themselves in given the season the Hertfordshire side are having.

That goal shortage will have been partly due to the fact that the player tasked with getting their goals over the last few seasons, Jordan Archer, has been out for ten months with a knee injury. He’s now back, and scored against Brackley recently in a slightly unlikely 3-1 win. He’ll be keen and hungry, but hopefully swallowed up and kept quiet by three capable centre backs.

There was plenty to be optimistic about from the second half against Chester, and every chance that a similar level of performance from the Bulls here will result in that win, and on the back of two gutsy draws it would be much deserved.

COYW