2011 Prediction League; Game 42 Hereford United (home)

Div3North · 06-04-2012, 22:30

Accrington Stanley

V

Hereford United

Prediction League – Game 42; v Hereford (home)

You wouldn’t really fancy their run-in, I suspect; after us they’ve got Barnet (away) and the Cobblers (home) – neither of whom are safe yet, although Northampton’s last-minute winner against Oxford tonight means it’s only mathematically, rather than realistically, possible for them to go down, given their 9 point lead over the bottom two

– followed by Crawley away

and Torquay at home

. Ideally you want to be against teams with nothing to play for – nowt to win and nowt to lose

- if you’re fighting for survival ………… you can’t see a team which has averaged 7/8ths of a point a game all season

getting much out of most of those fixtures; you’d have to think they’re in serious – maybe terminal - trouble …….. Apparently their owner (David Keyte) has started working out the cost of relegation to the BSP ………… and presumably, therefore, his non-league budget ........

Currently the Bulls (bullocks?) sit 24th and last; 36 points from 41 games, and a -23 goal difference

(worse than everyone’s but Barnet (-28) and the Revived and Resurgent Daggers (-26)); Macclesfield – sorry Larry

– are 23rd and sinking fast (36 points from 40, and -17); Barnet lie 22nd, 3 points above them both; you’d doubt they – any of those three, but certainly the Bulls and the Silkmen – could realistically catch Bradford on 43 points or Northampton on 45 (with a game in hand). Plymouth (41) and the Daggers (42) could still be drawn in, but isn’t it – in honesty – looking like 2 from 3?

Hereford’s home record is 4 wins, 4 draws and 13 defeats

; away it’s 4 wins, 8 draws and 8 defeats

; overall, P41 W8 D12 L21 F42 A65; their last 13 games have resulted in just two wins

(1-0 at Morecambe and 2-1 over the Wombles at Edgar Street), plus 4 draws

(2-2 at Macclesfield, and 1-1 at Bradford and at home to both Plymouth (today) and Cheltenham), and 7 defeats

; they’ve scored once (today) in their last 4, and although their opponents have only got one in each of those four games, it’s still been enough for them to take ten of the twelve points on offer (0-1 at home to Crewe and away at both Port Vale and at Rotherham); played 13, 10 points, 15 goals scored (4 of them in a 5-4 loss to the Gills) and 20 conceded. Oh dear …………..

Speaking of the Gills; guess who said this, today?

"We deserved to win the game; first half we were outstanding on the worst pitch I've ever seen at a league club. It needs to be looked into because players are going to get serious injuries, players are falling down holes and it's not right."

So it's official - we no longer have the worst pitch in League Two; cheers, Andy ............

("Players are falling down holes ........" ?????????

)

They’ve made some signings – well you would, in their position, wouldn’t you?; not all of them were totally successful

. In on loan have come Doncaster Rovers 19 year-old winger James Baxendale and his “injury-plagued” team mate, defender James Chambers (31) - who was at Donnie when Bulls’ new manager Richard O’Kelly was there as Assistant Manager and who hasn’t played since Feb 2011 because of knee surgery (no disrespect, but that does sound like a bit of a gamble signing

); also on loan, ex Pirates’ Welsh u21 defender Byron Anthony, who started out at Cardiff and joined Bristol Rovers in 2006, where he hasn’t played since Mark McGhee became manager (bit of a clue about his new contract prospects there, perhaps?

); not too successfully, Bournemouth loaned them ex Millwall striker Lyle Taylor (21), (who also played for Concord Rangers, scoring 34 in 42), and who's now back at the Cherries; finally, they brought in one Kern Miller – he of the late night assaults – who seems to have visited more A&E departments than he has football dressing rooms; he played one game for Lincoln (against us) in 08/09, three for us on loan, none for Barnsley, none for Hereford (either while on loan or when he signed for them on non-contract terms), and when they fairly rapidly got rid – since he’d been at three League clubs already – he could only sign below BSP level, so joined Gainsborough Trinity (for whom he hasn’t apparently played either); 4 seasons, 4 games (all involving the Stanley in some way or other) ………..

In addition, they signed two fomer loanees (midfielder Simon Clist (30) from Oxford and central defender Will Evans from Swindon), Oxford and ex York RB Ben Purkiss (27), and Hayes and Yeading striker Nathan Elder (26, and with a “previously played for” list that includes Brighton, Brentford and Shrewsbury)

You’ll recall – yes you will - that we drew at their place back on December 30th, conceding 5 minutes in, but equalising through Micah Evans (a 53rd minute sub) on 72; we also beat them 4-0 last March at Fortress Crown (two by Terry Gornell of Shrewsbury, one by Jimmy Ryan of Scunthorpe, and one by Sean McRochdale). That apart we’ve won one (07), drawn two and lost four …….. Must Do Better!

Their leading scorers are Blackpool loan striker Tom Barkhuizen (18) with 12, French forward Yoann Arquin (signed from 4th Div side Red Star 93) – who got the goal against us – with 7, and defender Will Evans (ex Swindon and Fairford Town

(Who?)) and Grenada international Delroy Facey (remember him?) – now 30, and at his 14th club - each with 4.

The deadline for entries is, as ever, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Easter Monday, 9th April. Compare our recent record (W2 D4 L6 of our last twelve) with theirs, and the numbers aren’t much different; what we’ve got, though, is 17 points more than them, and hopes for next season that I don’t think their fans share …….. We can’t, statistically, be relegated (thanks to Shrewsbury’s win at Macclesfield tonight); they’re in a dogfight, and trying for the win – as they’ll surely have to – leaves gaps at the back. It’ll be interesting to see how many predict that we’ll lose this one; my guess is that it won’t be many …………

Good luck to everyone ……….Happy Easter ………… and thanks for playing!