Moor points needed

Hereford FC will have had the luxury of two whole days without a football match before hosting mid-table Spennymoor on Tuesday, and no Thursday game this week either. There’s no room amid all that luxury for complacency though, as having now lost three on the bounce following a run of three wins the Bulls are back in ‘need a win’ territory if they’re to retain their status as one of the more likely survivors among the current bottom six.

This was another fixture that was postponed because of the state of the Edgar Street pitch in January, and whilst there’s no doubting that the game will go ahead on Tuesday, it’s a shame that the scarring on the turf in front of the Len Weston stand means Cormac Daly has to beat the right back and the pitch before delivering a cross for half the game.

Moors have finished just a point short of the play-offs in the last two seasons, and on goal difference the season before that, which is all-in-all a bit unlucky, but those finishes have come as a result of finally waking up in spring and rocketing up the table from just above the relegation places. This season, however, there’s been no slow start and they’ve been up in the top half of the table since August.

Glen Taylor yet again finished as one of the top scorers in the NLN last season, and it says it all about his quality that ‘only’ scoring 18 goals hinted at a slowing down in the striker as he ages. He’s actually already bettered that this season with 19, so if he is slowing down he’s hiding it well. He got off the mark promptly when these sides met in Durham on the opening day of the season. That game ended 2-0 to Moors with the Bulls showing defensive frailty and regular recourse to long balls. Unfortunately that was the case for many months afterwards, and has resulted in the relegation problems the club now finds itself in.

Ex-Bull Ben Pollock hasn’t been getting into the squad lately, and Mitch Hancox mostly makes do with substitute appearances, Long-time Spennymoor servant Rob Ramshaw is always a threat, and 34-year-old ex-West Ham striker Frank Nouble, who joined the club from Gateshead in January, certainly has the pedigree to be a threat – hopefully his knees no longer match his pedigree.

Ex-Forest Green and Fylde left-winger Junior Mondal will give Aaron Skinner or Joseph James, or both, plenty to think about.

Moors boast a strong record in this fixture going back to 2018, and took four points from the two matches against Hereford last season.

They go into this one unbeaten in three having won against Curzon and Merthyr and drawn at home with Alfreton on Saturday – a late equaliser for the hosts there could prove to be useful to Hereford in terms of scrambling to safety.

They’re not completely out of the play-off picture, but they’d need one of their customary late surges to gatecrash the party.

The hosts really could do with winning this one, and perhaps deserve a stroke of luck or two here to go with the desire and endeavour they’ve shown lately. One plus is that it’s a chunky old midweek journey for the opposition.

Harrison Sohna’s red card will mean he gets a three-game rest, although he’ll be available for this game before his suspension kicks in. He could therefore play with added motivation in terms of making it up to his teammates here after leaving them with a mountain to climb in the second half on Saturday, although the consensus would suggest that a yellow card may have been the correct decision.

George Munday has played two consecutive full games now but such is his form that perhaps he’ll start again here. His seven goals in 11 games since joining the club is a strike rate that arguably can’t be left on the bench given the situation the club finds itself in. In fact, would Aaron Downes be tempted to start the Cambridge loanee alongside Mikey Lane as a little ‘n’ large combo, and go with a 4-4-2? It’s a partnership that would certainly give the Moors defence plenty to worry about.  

Much will rest here on the defensive display from the Hereford back four. They’ve got Glen Taylor to contain specifically, but Aaron Downes will also be keen more generally to see them well-organised, especially when defending set pieces, and not in the mood to gift goals to the opposition. 2025/26 has been more of a gift-giving season than Christmas so far.

Downes will, unusually, get to have a training session with his players on Thursday, actually on a pitch running around with footballs rather than via Zoom talking about football, and as part of that the group will need to plot a way to win half of their remaining games as an absolute bare minimum. In-form Buxton on Saturday will be no picnic.

COYW