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The hectic nature of the opening to the 2024/25 National League North season continues on Bank Holiday Monday, as Hereford FC, not long having got off what must have been a bubbly coach from Southport, return to action at Edgar Street, with Radcliffe FC the visitors.
Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley manage the side, and it’ll be a pleasure to welcome them and their nice sunny dispositions to the home of football. With just two points from four games so far, the Radcliffe players have presumably been given the hairdryer treatment in the dressing room several times already.
Like Peterborough, this Boro are one of the division’s smaller clubs, and like Peterborough they’re a club the play-off contenders would be looking to bank three points from at home. With the Bulls held to a 1-1 draw last Tuesday, a win is expected here to give that ‘play-off contender’ status a credibility boost, although Saturday’s win at Southport did that in spades. Incidentally, to cast last Tuesday’s draw in a slightly better light, Peterborough beat Buxton on Saturday, and the Bucks had previously won all their matches, although admittedly all three were on their own plastic, by which I mean their pitch – they hadn’t used the club credit card to buy off the opposition, at least I assume not.
It’s been a difficult adaptation to life in the National League North so far for Radcliffe, following promotion last season. They’ve lost to Kidderminster and Chester after a promising 3-3 opening-day draw with Scarborough, secured via a 92nd minute equaliser.
On Saturday they took on fellow newcomers and slow-starters Needham Market at home, but had to settle for a point, which leaves them third bottom, and already it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if the current bottom three are still occupying those places at the end of the season.
Jordan Hulme and Anthony Dudley up front looks to be a potentially useful partnership, though one that’s yet to spark into life this season, with Jude Obiyo providing mazy runs and service to them from the left. You could say he has decent experience of the division, having previously played for Spennymoor, Chester, Curzon Ashton, Buxton and Alfreton.
Obiyo is in fact one of seven ex-Chester players in the Radcliffe squad. One of the few players who didn’t come from Chester is Zakiyah Lee – he came from PHC Zebras. Of course he did.
Whether they’re winning, losing or drawing, expect a lot of substitutes – the Radcliffe management duo seem to be keen on the new five subs rule.
As for the hosts, well, it was never in doubt was it? Eight points from four games, still unbeaten, a two-point-per-game average which should be enough to win the league – the open-top bus could almost be ordered now and it’s still August.
But seriously folks, what a super display up at Southport on Saturday, leaving that baffling last half hour against Peterborough feeling like a weird bad dream.
Something else that play-off contenders need to be capable of as well as beating smaller sides at home is consistency, and that means backing that Southport win up with another good performance on Monday, and having the confidence to believe that another 90 minutes of high-velocity pressing, uncompromising defending and pacy counterattacking will naturally lead most likely to a win given the quality in the side. Consistency has been an elusive commodity at Edgar Street for some time now, be it from match to match or even within matches, where some sort of Jekyll and Hyde transformation can occur at half-time.
Saturday’s substitutes Alex Babos and Andy Williams did what substitutes should always look to do: make it difficult for the manager to leave them on the bench again for the next match. With Ahkeem Rose and Montel Gibson also looking threatening, both individually and as a combo, Paul Caddis has decisions to make up top. If Willo scores a couple here he could jointly top the NLN goalscoring charts, and start to look good for a 20-goal season, something many previous Hereford 'strikers' in the NLN years have fallen about 20 goals short of.
Matt Preston’s injury absence has allowed Aaron Skinner to ease back into the team, and Sammy Robinson’s versatility gives Caddis a viable back three even without the impressive Preston.
Yet more encouragement was to be found on Saturday from Preston Bitemo, in his first start for the club, looking entirely comfortable, and Chay Tilt coming on for his first competitive minutes in a Hereford shirt as he returns from injury.
Those four goals on Saturday should hopefully put a few hundred on the gate for this one, which should add to the atmosphere, and give Radcliffe reason to pause and think ‘uh-oh’ and come out at 3pm feeling like they’ve got a mountain to climb.
It’s the first time these sides have met, so there are no Peterborough hoodoos or bogeys, it’s just a very good opportunity to consolidate that early play-off spot, and possibly ease past full-time fancy-dan Kidderminster in the table.
Oh, and talking of hoodoos and bogeys, it’s Brackley next.
COYW