Hype Train FC will be playing across both Saturday and Sunday next season, with the team competing in the East Berkshire Football League and the Reading & District Sunday League. You can follow all of the team's season coverage right here as we provide match reports and photo galleries from our third season as a club! All aboard.
Match Report: Hype Train FC vs. KS Gryf
Date: Saturday 16th March 2022
Competition: EBFL Premier Division (Game 9)
Opposition: KS Gryf
Location: Calcot Recreation Ground, Calcot, Reading, RG31 4XD
Final Score: Hype Train FC 4-1 KS Gryf
Photographer: Sam Austin (@HypeTrainSam)
Request Photos: contact@thehypetrain.co.uk
Match Report:
Our encounter against KS Gryf was the team's latest home outing in the East Berkshire Football League (EBFL) Premier Division this season, with the team taking on the Polish-orientated outfit from Slough for the very first-time as a club, with both teams of teams have minimal squads due to the Easter bank holiday weekend.
In the temperate conditions down at Calcot on a great day for football on a bank holiday weekend, the team soaked in a good start to the game when we took the lead in the 9th minute! The goal came about when a Gryf attacker was dispossessed by Dany Setiawan following a throw in, with Setiawan picking out Phil Newport on the counter. Turning and driving into the attack, Newport found Ash Ali in a central position, before Ali waited for Newport to race past the Gryf defensive line before returning the ball, with Newport setting the ball on his left, eventually rifling in a low drilled effort with his left-foot past the opposing keeper to take the lead.
A good start to the day was doubled down on just 4 minutes later in the 13th minute when A Jamie Halsall goal kick was initially won by a Gryf midfielder, though Callum Fox-Spence won the second header, with Paul Hatfield flicking the ball on to Newport, who again raced through on goal and smashed in another effort with his left-foot - the first two goals were virtual carbon copies and great finishes by the Number 9 to give the team a good start.
The team managed to create several more chances before half-time, with Newport and Hatfield going close, whilst at the other end of the pitch Halsall made two blindingly good saves to deny the visiting outfit from Slough. The first was a top save to the keeper's right when Gryf's tricky left winger cut in and shot low, whilst the second was an extended diving save to his right after a strike from outside the penalty area!
Gryf were also reduced to 10-men at the end of the first-half and beginning of the second-half when they talked themselves into the book for dissent, meaning that for large periods of the game they were a man down.
The second-half started well for the team again, with the 52nd minute bringing out the third goal. The move started with a quick throw from Robert Austin to Shane Cooper-Clark, with the midfielder collecting well, taking his time to set before picking out Setiawan with a cross-field pass. Setiawan's touch set the ball up for Newport to convert with his right-foot at the keeper's near-post to complete a hat-trick as the team took a 3-0 lead.
The game ran away from the visitors in the 64th minute when Halsall launched a long kick down the pitch with the ball in his hands, with Gryf unable to clear the ball. The nod on from a central defender only fed in Hatfield, who raced on to the ball, set, eventually picking out Newport at the back-post with a calm cross, to convert and extend our lead to 4-0 - with Newport completing a perfect hat-trick on the day!
Gryf did begin to mount some pressure in the final 30 minutes of the game as they committed more players forward and found a goal minutes after Danny Basden was also sent to the sin bin for dissent. The 73rd minute saw a bobbly ball collected by Gryf in white in their attacking third after a loose pass by Austin, with their Forward fed through with a dinked pass, sitting down Chris Marshall with a quick turn, before shooting low past Halsall to wipe out the team's hopes of a clean sheet.
Despite more pressure, KS Gryf were unable to add a second, with Halsall making two more incredible saves to keep the score at 4-1, meaning the team have won our first Premier Division game since a 7-4 victory against Pundit last November.
The win moved the team up to 12 points from 10 games in EBFL's Premier Division and above Stoke Poges and AFC Cressex into 8th placed in the table, with multiple games in hand on the teams above. Next up for the team on Saturday's, we play AFC Cressex at home for a dress rehearsal of the EBFL Presidents Cup final on May 7th 2022, in the league next week, whilst on Sunday's we were in action the next day against Barton Rovers on 17th April, looking to tighten our hold onto second place in RDSL Division 4.
Thoughts from Club Secretary, Robert Austin:
"The bank holiday weekend brought around a lot of challenges and hurdles to get the games going ahead as people and families plan long weekends, so both sets of teams had very small squads on what as a near-perfect day to play football.
We started the game with a sense of urgency and found out feet really quickly and knocked Gryf with a couple of early goals that really changed the outlook of the game, and they didn't really recover from that setback as peppered them with good counter attacks, and stifled their short passing game in their own half, which resulting in them hitting hopeful diagonals. We managed the game well though given we had bare bones, showed quality and played with the ball for stages really well. Moreover, the team showed really guts and spirit against a team in a good position in the league, so we couldn't be happier with a good day at the office.
I'd like to pass along my thank to Kris and the team at Gryf for making the journey out to us on a busy bank holiday weekend. Both teams had a skeleton crew and couldn't speak more highly of Kris - he's an absolute credit to the EBFL and a top guy, and his team are equally a credit to the division. We're looking forward to the return game at Burnham FC in a showcase event on Wednesday 18th May!"
Hype Train FC: Matchday Squad
Manager: Robert Austin
Starting 11:
GK: Jamie Halsall
DEF: Jon Watkins
DEF: Danny Basden
DEF: Chris Marshall
DEF: Robert Austin
MID: Dany Setiawan
MID: Shane Cooper-Clark
MID: Callum Fox-Spence (Parr-Jones 65')
MID: Paul Hatfield
MID: Ash Ali
FOR: Phil Newport
Substitutes:
SUB: Callum Parr-Jones (second-half)
Goals & Assists:
Goal 1: Newport (goal), Ali (assist)
Goal 2: Newport (goal), Hatfield (assist)
Goal 3: Newport (goal), Setiawan (assist)
Goal 4: Newport (goal), Hatfield (assist)
Want to know more about The Hype Train?
The Hype Train is an entertainment website founded in 2015, specialising in general football and Fantasy sports reporting, starting with Fantasy Premier League (FPL), before expanding to MLS Fantasy coverage in 2018.
We pride ourselves in providing beautiful graphics, statistics, in-depth analytical reporting and free weekly insight for hopeful players attempting to climb rankings tables. We are also occasional media reviewers, with a keen interest to review games, live sport, and professional wrestling.
In 2019, Hype Train Football Club was formed, becoming the first Fantasy Football website to take to the field. HTFC is a socially active team across social and web channels, providing regular match highlights, match reports, comprehensive player statistics and unique player profiles. We won both Goal of the Season Awards in the Berkshire and County FA regions, with Callum Parr-Jones winning the Berks & Bucks FA award, whilst Martin King won the PlaySport UK award. In 2021, we formed the Reading Sunday Social League (RSSL), a competitive Sunday League involving 8 teams in its debut season.
The Hype Train were nominated and shortlisted for the 'Best Football Blog' in 2016 by the Football Bloggers Association at their annual Football Blogging Awards (The FBA's), and were again shortlisted as a finalist in 2019 in the 'Best Fantasy Football Blog' category.
You can follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, follow Hype Train FC on Instagram, subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive content, visit our club's dedicate website, or visit our website here at www.thehypetrain.co.uk
Believe The Hype!
