Rot stopped, work to do

So the Easter weekend provided a rollercoaster of emotions, with heartbreak at Kidderminster and elation against Merthyr, which at least made a change from unremitting misery.

Now that the elation has worn off a bit, eroded slightly perhaps by the irritation that most of the other strugglers also won on Easter Monday, the scale of the task in front of the Bulls over the next two-and-a-half weeks comes back into sharp focus.

That task continues on Wednesday as Hereford travel to Merseyside for a plastic-pitch encounter with Crosby’s Marine FC.

They really must win this before two huge six-pointers against Bedford and Oxford. Having lost seven in a row, winning the last seven to round off the season would be quite a stylish way to get out of the hole they’re in. As unlikely as that winning run sounds, unfortunately they’ll only get out of that hole if they do that or something not far off it. 51ish was, not so long ago, looking like a points total that could be enough. It no longer does, with Bedford and Oxford both making bold moves towards safety. One tiny chink of light is the late arrival to the relegation party of Curzon Ashton. If the Bulls can win this game, the only National League North game being played in midweek, they’re four points behind the Nash having played two games fewer. All they can do is keep winning football matches.

Marine had an excellent start to the season and spent a long time in the play-off positions. They’ve slipped to mid-table now, partly due to going very deep in the FA Trophy, losing in the semi-finals. Despite winning on Monday, 2-1 at home to Chorley, and like Hereford having games in hand, they’re unlikely to claw their way back into those play-off positions by the end of the season. That’s something Hereford have to use to their advantage.

They took a while to acclimatise to the National League North last season following promotion, and looked way off it at Edgar Street in terms of quality (not much) and naivity (loads), but quickly turned things around and finished 19 points clear of the drop in losing just two of their last ten games. There’s very little chance of them exhibiting any of that naivity here having really kicked on since then, while Hereford have very much gone backwards over the course of the season as a whole.

Bobby Grant is their manager, and is something of a ‘Mr Marine’ having also played for and captained the club.

Their big threat is left winger Fin Sinclair-Smith, who scored at the weekend to take his seasonal tally to ten. Joseph James will hopefully have recovered from the knock he picked up on Monday to enable him to look after the ex-Radcliffe man. Centre forward George Newell seems to have inherited some of his father Mike’s attributes as a typical English centre forward and target man, but has only managed six goals.

Aaron Downes can’t afford to be cagey, and will presumably go again with George Munday and Mikey Lane up front. The latter suggested when interviewed following his man-of-the-match display on Monday that a repeat of the first half against Merthyr could ‘blow Marine out of the water’. I might ask him to start writing the titles for these previews.

Freddy Willcox and Harrison Sohna should again occupy the central midfield positions, offering plenty in the middle of the park with skillsets that complement each other very well.

Behind them, Kyle Howkins and Matt Preston will be keen to oversee another clean sheet here as the Hereford defence is finally showing signs of organised resistance, as well as silky finishing at the other end.

The Merthyr manager said after Monday’s match:

"They were physically bigger, stronger in winning duels in that first half. They ran all over us, which is really disappointing to see."

This is precisely what’s happened to Hereford again and again this season. Telford have done it, Kings Lynn have done it, Chorley have done it…and that’s just a handful of examples of how the team has been absolutely bullied at home, let alone away. And that deliberately ignores the better-funded sides who have ‘run all over us’ (I was going to say ‘bigger clubs’ but they're absolutely not). It’s been awful, but if we’re finally biting back, great. It's just that it might be a bit too late.

I was trying to explain to someone over Easter how a club paying thousands and thousands of pounds to managers and players courtesy of a huge bounty that comes through the turnstiles every fortnight could possibly be relegated to the seventh level of football in England. I failed.

Hereford have to win again. If they don’t it’s virtually all over. At least that keeps things simple.

COYW