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Following Hereford FC’s home draw against Telford on Tuesday evening, it’s another tough away assignment on Saturday as the Bulls travel up to Fylde, or more specifically Wesham.
The hosts, relegated to this level last season, have bounced back very well, and sit in second position in the table. Like South Shields, they’re a full-time club with financial backing that really should see them being competitive in the division above.
There are some tiny chinks in their armour at home in that they’ve ‘only’ won half of the games they’ve played this season at Mill Farm, and have conceded only one goal fewer than Hereford on their own patch. It’s therefore not the fortress South Shields is.
A nice local one for Paul Caddis for a change, not far from his home in the northwest. Hopefully he’ll enjoy that relative cushiness in terms of the travel, and not drive down to Hereford to get on a bus up to Fylde to prove his commitment to the cause, a commitment that is etched deep into his post-match interviews, and in his honest assessment of Tuesday night’s first-half dross.
These two last met at Mill Farm in February 2023, with Hereford emerging as deserving 3-1 winners against a side who went on to become champions that season. They rested three key players that night and regretted it, but if they watch the video of the first half of Tuesday night’s Edgar Street display they may feel they can rest 11. If whole halves continue to be gifted to the opposition the end of the season could be quite exciting in all the wrong ways.
Kyle Howkins was more or less alone among the outfield players in terms of showing up for that first half on Tuesday, although an isolated Remaye Campbell meant that the ball didn’t stick in the Telford half and they were able to launch attack after attack with ease as a result. The sense of it dawning on the visitors after about ten minutes just how easy it was to cut through the home side was palpable, as was their delighted surprise.
It was an interesting match-up in the sense that both clubs are part-time, operate with presumably similar budgets, and use the West Midlands conurbation as the pool from which to sign a lot of their players, and yet the sides looked a division apart in that first half. The manager’s assessment of it being ‘crap’ was right, but unfortunately that wasn’t just a one-off aberration this season.
A handful of positives: Gus Mafuta looks like a proper footballer, an authoritative leader on the pitch, and should become hugely influential once fit. Mike Parker’s return is very obviously a huge boost. I-Lani Edwards will score a glut of good goals between now and Christmas. Matt Preston looks more mobile than he did a week or two ago. Theo Richardson gives the side the chance to salvage something from any game with his saves and distribution.
And some not-so-positives: the first name on most people’s teamsheet this season would be Kyle Howkins, who went off in slightly gingerly fashion on Tuesday, unsurprisingly given that he had to carry the team for the first half. He will be a very big miss indeed here if he’s not fit to start. Also, another fit striker is badly needed. Rem Campbell on his own up front with no other Hereford shirt anywhere near him makes things very, very easy for four defenders, through no fault of the player himself. It's a baffling approach tactically given that Hereford have frequently got absolutely thumped whenever it's tried.
If the club can only afford one fit striker, as one of the three best supported sides in the division, that is what it is for a club being run sustainably. This level is therefore the natural ceiling for HFC in the crazy world of football economics, when so many others limp on as economic basket cases.
Season tickets will have to be marketed honestly as such in the future of course, with uber-glamorous games against fellow part-timers Tamworth being cup finals for HFC, if by some miracle the Edgar Street minnows find a way to sneak up to the National League at some point, to play such giants of the game. How things have changed since that baking hot August opening day of the season at Tamworth in 2003 that announced the arrival of one of the most exciting Hereford sides ever invented.
I'm OK with the sustainability element (who wouldn't be?) as long as honesty in terms of what the phoenix club is capable of sits alongside it. Promotion to the Football League, for instance, won't ever happen with the current model.
The Coasters are managed by Craig Mahon, and the last time he was seen by Hereford fans they were waving him down the Edgar Street tunnel following a red card for Curzon Ashton last season. Mahon has started well at the club, but he’ll need to continue to build on that success as the club tends to get through one manager a year.
Centre forward Danny Ormerod has nine league goals this season, which isn’t bad for a 19-year-old. Jon Ustabasi will be familiar to Bulls fans from his time as a stand-out performer with Chorley, and winger Luca Thomas came through the ranks at Leeds and weighs in with goals and assists aplenty.
Fylde are stronger in all departments than Telford, which is a concern. They won 5-0 at Spennymoor on Tuesday, after Spennymoor had put six past Merthyr last weekend, which is also a concern. It’s probably best not to read the report from that game, but ‘Phenomenal’ and ‘That was one of the best performances from a team I’ve been involved with’ were used to describe it, as opposed to ‘crap’.
However, the National League North is an utter madman of a football division, which by my reckoning makes this an away banker. Some magic from Messrs Parker, Edwards and Sterling-James please, and another goal or two from Sam Osborne against his old club.
COYW