The Bulls travel to Lancashire this weekend as they take on Chorley with both teams looking to build on their winning starts to the season.
Paul Caddis’ side will be looking to build on a fantastic 3-0 win on the opening day at home to South Shields with goals from Andy Williams, Yusifu Ceesay and debutant Montel Gibson.
“It was a brilliant win, I thought to a man we were excellent, I’m really proud of the team,” said the Hereford manager.
Chorley also enjoyed a winning start to the season with a 0-1 win away to Peterborough Sports courtesy of a penalty scored by former Hereford loanee Momodou Touray.
The Magpies came very close to promotion last season finishing 4th which qualified them for the play-offs.
After beating Curzon Ashton on penalties in the quarter-final they lost 1-0 to Brackley Town in the semi-final thus extending their stay in the National League North.
Hereford will be looking for a repeat of last season’s result at Victory Park where they won 1-2 with goals from Jack Tolley and Alex Babos with Chorley winning the reverse fixture 0-1 at Edgar Street.
Team News
HEREFORD:
Jason Cowley continues to be absent from the squad after picking up an injury in the pre-season friendly against Halesowen Town.
Aaron Skinner got more minutes in the tank last week, coming on for the last 20 minutes against South Shields, but is unlikely to start as he still builds up his match sharpness following a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
New signings Cosmos Matwasa and Chay Tilt were both absent from the matchday squad last Saturday after a collision in training, but the hope is they will be fit enough for some involvement.
“Thursday we had a rubbish night at training, we lost Matwasa and Tilt, believe it or not, they ran into each other so they were both struggling,
“They’re two very important players for us but I am privileged to have a strong enough squad to be able to chop and change,” said Caddis.
The newest addition to the squad, Akheem Rose was unable to participate against the Mariners last Saturday as international clearance had not been granted in time.
24/25 Form
HEREFORD:
3-0 (H) South Shields 10/08/24 (Gibson x1, Williams x1 and Ceesay x1)
CHORLEY:
0-1 (A) Peterborough Sports 10/08/24 (Momodou Touray x1)
Ones to Watch
Montel Gibson (HEREFORD):
One of the many new signings made by Caddis, Gibson arrived early on in the summer and made an instant impact against South Shields with a goal and a man of the match performance. The forward certainly knows how to find the back of the net with 17 goals in the Southern League Premier Division Central last season. Fans will be hoping he can continue his goalscoring form this Saturday.
Momodou Touray (CHORLEY):
A name that will be familiar to Hereford fans after featuring 18 times for the club when on loan from Salford City in 2022. Touray signed for the Magpies in the summer after impressing for Warrington Rylands last season where he scored 17 goals in the Northern Premier League. The Newport academy graduate scored the only goal in Chorley’s 0-1 win on the opening day and he will be looking to build on an impressive debut against Caddis’ side.
Head-2-Head
Hereford 0-1 Chorley (National League North) 09/03/24
Chorley 1-2 Hereford (National League North) 28/10/23
Chorley 2-0 Hereford (National League North) 07/03/23
Hereford 1-1 Chorley (National League North) 06/12/22
Chorley 3-2 Hereford (National League North) 29/01/22
