.png)
Hereford FC were due to make the long trip to Darlington on a Saturday a few weeks ago, although that idea was shelved in short order due to waterlogging. Unfortunately that means making the long trip to the northeast on Tuesday night for the Bulls to play the rearranged fixture. One slight silver lining is that Saturday’s trip to Suffolk was itself postponed for the same reason, so the travel aspect of those back-to-back slogathons has been cut in half.
Darlington had a season to forget last time, with Josh Gowling almost taking them down, before his replacement Steve Watson steadied the ship to the extent that they finished six points clear of the drop. Watson would have hoped to carry that form into the new season, but they’ve been hindered by the sort of inconsistency that dogs virtually every NLN club.
They’re currently in 13th place, four points behind Hereford. They don’t often achieve the same result two games running, but they’ve done enough of late to gradually drag their way clear of the relegation zone. Their home form is very good, having only lost one of nine on their own patch, conceding just six goals in those games.
Their annual pre-season squad builder cash plea is becoming the stuff of legend, such is the amount of money it raises each year. The £162k raised last pre-season for their relegation push was smashed in the summer, with £190k donated by fans to the cause.
Courtesy of that largesse, versatile and influential ex-Kidderminster player Joe Leesley arrived at the club in the summer and looked a good signing, but he’s been shipped out to Worksop on loan, so it seems it didn’t work out well after all. Forward Jack Maskell, only 19 but full of potential having scored 26 in 36 appearances lower down in his fledgling career so far, was another summer recruit. He’s grabbed a couple of goals this season. Midfielder Will Hatfield has never really been prolific anywhere in his career, but also has two goals so far. The main threat though, quite literally, may be Surinamese centre forward Cedric Main. The ex-York man made his Quakers debut against Hereford in January in a 2-0 win. He’s gone on to average a goal every three games for the club, and that’s a better return than he’s managed anywhere previously, so he may have found his spiritual home.
That Darlo victory was the third they’ve enjoyed in a row at home to Hereford, which merely suggests to me with my glass half full that they can’t win this, because what are the chances of four in a row?
Tate Campbell remains suspended for this one, but Sammy Robinson’s cameo for the final five minutes against Rushall was smashing to see, and his return will give a huge boost to everyone ahead of a tough run of games this month, starting here.
The Needham Market postponement has given Andy Williams a few more days to rest a niggly hamstring, and he could therefore play some role here, and Aaron Chapman is now fit and available.
Aaron Skinner and Preston Bitemo are still out long-term, but the arrival of Dylan Mitchell, Jaiden White and Declan McGlynn gives Paul Caddis plenty of options. Recent goals for Jason Cowley and Ahkeem Rose should also mean that they’re motivated and hungry for more. With Ryan Bartley looking classier and more confident with each game, there’s plenty to be optimistic about. A win would propel the club back into the play-off positions, just a point or two adrift of clubs who will still have played a game more than Hereford after this match.
There are enough pointers in terms of the Hereford away record and the extra dimension the new recruits have brought to the side to suggest that the visitors can come away with the points here, against a Darlington side that still seems a little punch-drunk from the difficult season the club experienced last time. Another plus is that key players such as Sammy Robinson and Jason Cowley have returned/are returning from long-term injury, and in combination with the new arrivals offer plenty for the Quakers to quake about.
Long trip, tough assignment, but winnable. Oh, and P-P is out of the question given the weather forecast, but I couldn’t think of anything clever to rhyme with Quakers or Darlington or any other witticisms on the theme, so apologies for the misleading title. Although these days you never know - in light of the Assad overthrow Darlington could be overrun by Stockton-on-Tees militants intent on taking the western front of the greater Tees estuary area, but that’s probably unlikely, although I’m no expert on the geopolitical situation in the northeast. Could be a tinderbox, in which case the BBC will have to go with P-P and then ‘political tinderbox’ where it usually says ‘waterlogged pitch’.
OK I feel like I’m going off the point a bit, so in a nutshell I fancy us to nick this, despite the dreadful overall record at Blackwell Meadows.
COYW