Hereford FC - Reflections on the season so far
With 19 league games played it seems an appropriate time for Hereford fans to reflect on the season so far, take stock of what has been achieved and look forward to the rest of the season. We are of course used to the âfront-loadingâ of the season which means that most non-league clubs have played pretty much half of their fixtures well before Christmas. We, of course, have played more league games than most but more of that later.
Due to a lengthy summer holiday I wasnât able to make any of the pre-season friendlies but results were largely promising, most notably the 1-0 win over FC United of Manchester on our return to Edgar Street. That said, I think most of us were unsure of what to expect and as we drew closer to the end of July it wasnât really clear how good we were, and how good we would be once the competitive fixtures began. Then came the 24th July, an auspicious day for our young club. Peter Beadle announced the signing of strike duo John Mills and Pablo Haysham from Didcot Town and a wave of excitement and relief ran through the fanbase. Everything was going to be okay, it was all in hand.
August came around and over 4,000 packed into Edgar Street for the first league fixture with Dunkirk. Fans flew in from around the world to be there, we had a real life bull paraded at the ground for the first time in a very long time (Iâll forgive the Real Madrid and Man United scarves, but only just) and the national media lapped it up. This Midland League lark was going to be alright. On the pitch things started brilliantly with our new heroes Mills and Haysham banging in four goals between them to secure a 4-1 victory. With hindsight the Dunkirk consolation goal was a worrying portent of our defensive frailty, but at the time nothing could ruin the day. Chants of âChampions by Christmasâ rung out from the Meadow End as optimism won the day and we stupidly failed to comprehend the task ahead of us.
As a London-based exile with a job, a Tuesday night trip to Stourport was a step too far for me but I followed from afar as we were brought resoundingly back to earth with a 2-0 defeat. Reports suggested, worryingly, that despite a straight red for Nathan Summers Stourport were good value for the win. On the following Saturday I made the trip up to Birmingham for our third match of the season against Highgate United as we were dealt another reality check. On a horrible surface we were comfortably outplayed and Purdieâs late free kick put some undeserved gloss on a poor performance. Highgate United 2-1 Hereford and two defeats in our opening three games.
Back to Earth at Highgate. Bumpy, weedy, crappy Earth
Fast forward another seven days and we travelled to Rocester. After the sublime opening day win things finally hit the ridiculous as we conceded three goals in the first 15 minutes and stared straight down the barrel of a third consecutive defeat. With shades of Northampton away in a 2010 we complete a remarkable second half comeback to win 4-3 but then followed this up with an equally absurd 5-4 reverse against Coleshill three days later. By now it was painfully clear that were struggling defensively, to say the least.
On the August bank holiday we faced our cross-city rivals Westfields and Iâm sure I wasnât alone in fearing another humiliation. At this point we had shipped 13 goals in our opening five games, eight of them in the previous two matches. Westfields hadnât enjoyed the best start to the season either and there was plenty at stake as 1,800 Herefordians trudged across a soggy Widemarsh Common to allpay.park. The match was a fairly dour affair but thankfully we had at least shored things up at the back. Apart from a bit of a scare when the home side hit the crossbar they didnât create too many chances, but then neither did we. It was a scrappy derby with a few meaty challenges, plenty of swearing and a fair allocation of the points.
As the first month of the season ended, any optimism that we had was pretty much gone along with any chance we had of winning the league before the 25th of December. In true Hereford style, many had already hit the panic button, the online discussion forums had gone into meltdown and people were already calling for Beadleâs head.
At this point Beadle made arguably his most important signing of the season and brought in Stourport captain Jamie Willets. Many had been impressed with his display in our game at Stourport and the signing was pretty much universally welcomed. It did, of course, mean Tony James was shown the door. James was a bit of a hero of mine previously but it was undoubtedly the right decision. I think his year out of the game affected him probably more than he expected and he struggled to find his feet in the first few league games. Willets went straight into the side for the game at a previously undefeated Heanor and helped us to a resounding 7-2 victory. We havenât looked back since.
Since the Westfields game we have been exceptional in recording eighteen straight wins. Eighteen. Straight. Wins. I hope we are all enjoying it while it lasts because these runs come along incredibly rarely. Most importantly weâve won 13 consecutive league games and havenât even conceded a goal in the last nine, helping us back to the top of the table, alongside five wins in various cup competitions. Weâve gained revenge over Stourport for our early season defeat with a 6-0 trouncing at Edgar Street this month and have the chance to do the same to Highgate and Coleshill before Christmas. Weâve got through two rounds of the FA Vase and have a realistic chance of overcoming our Wembley curse.
Making the most of the ubiquitous ice cream van while the sun still shines at Boldmere
It is, of course, impossible to pick out a single factor that has brought us to this point. Judging a brand new team on the first five competitive matches is ridiculous, yes we were bad in some of those early matches but it was early days and the players had barely had time to settle. The players have grown together and now look like a very strong unit. Nevertheless it was clear from those first few matches that we were lacking in some areas and the signings of Willets and Ryan Green have undoubtedly had a huge impact. Green is several classes above this league and he makes defending look easy. Willets is his no-nonsense counterpart â he can head and kick and thatâs about it â but heâs incredibly effective and a natural leader. Whilst the Westfields game was a dour affair the clean sheet did us a world of good and since then weâve rarely looked troubled at the back. As the weather starts to turn the signing of Mike Symons also looks like a good bit of business. He has already proved he knows where the back of the net is and will give us a more direct option for future games.
So what do we have to look forward to? There is clearly a lot of football to be played between now and the end of the season. Weâre yet to meet our two biggest rivals for the league title in Alvechurch and Sporting Khalsa and we arenât due to play either of them until mid-January. We then face Khalsa home and away and play Alvechurch at home within the space of 4 and a half weeks, with two potentially tough double-headers with Wulfrunians and Loughborough either side of those fixtures.
In the league I see Alvechurch as our biggest competitor so the two matches with them could well decide who takes the title come the end of April. We also have the return match with Westfields to look forward to on Boxing Day which should see a decent festive turn-out at the Street. We have of course played more games than anyone else in the league but with plenty of points in the bag already this should be to our advantage. Several games have already fallen to the weather and as pitches continue to worsen the inevitable fixture pile-up will hit some teams hard. With the chance of a good run in the Vase we could lose half a dozen Saturdays to cup competitions before the end of the season, so to have games under our belt already should be valuable.
We are of course still involved in all four cup competitions with the Vase and a trip to Wembley the ultimate prize. Should we come through this weekendâs match with Haughmond unscathed weâll be just five wins away from the final at the national stadium. The competition should also offer us some sterner tests if we progress to the later rounds â northern clubs have a strong pedigree in the Vase and we may find ourselves up against some very good sides if we continue to progress. A final at Wembley would be a great reward for us fans after all weâve been through over the past few years.
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