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: Britwell FC vs. Hype Train FC
Date: Wednesday 25th May 2022
Competition: EBFL Premier Division (Game 14)
Opposition: Britwell FC
Location: The Chicken Ranch, Britwell, Slough, SL2 2PH
Final Score: Britwell FC 4-1 Hype Train FC
Photographer: Sam Austin (@HypeTrainSam)
Request Photos: contact@thehypetrain.co.uk
Match Report:
Our encounter against Britwell FC was the second time we played Britwell, with both games taking place a week apart on a Wednesday evening, with the team looking to deny the hosts of securing the Premier Division title on their own patch in front of a large crowd at The Chicken Ranch.
Starting the stronger of the sides, Britwell found themselves ahead after 4 minutes of the game, with the goal itself an amazing effort! Jamie Halsall's goal kick was won by Matt Snell in midfield, with an opposition central defender eventually finding ball, with the defender pumping the ball high and long over the defence. The attacker for Britwell, Bryan Taylor, controlled the ball in the air and then struck a beautiful volley to Halsall's right to send the large home support into hysteria - hard to do anything about a touch of class.
A bad first-half was compounded in the 16th minute from an in-swinging corner kick that was initially caught by Halsall, with a Britwell attacker charging into the keeper, as well as Phil Newport, who was lumped into Halsall by the opposing player - the referee didn't see a foul in this instance as the ball is dropped invitingly for a close range finish by their Number 9, Craig Kelly, who converted from ease. The team protested the goal, and yes it was a really tough call and most likely a foul.
Britwell's good start would only grow stronger as they found a 3rd goal in the 23rd minute when Britwell's Kelly secured a double, when he won the race for the ball against Joe Sawyer, took the ball round the keeper and found the net despite several defenders closing down the space.
The half ended as it began, with Britwell scoring as they took a commanding 4-0 lead into the break when Connor Hartridge rose highest at the back-post from a corner kick to give Britwell just 45 minutes to hold out to ensure a first league crown.
The second-half saw a strong response from the team, with Newport, Paul Hatfield, and Leon Mannion, all testing the Britwell shot-stopper, with several periods of attack for the team causing them harm at the back, though it took until the 90th minute for the team to notch a goal on target and it happened when Newport powered through the Britwell defence at the second time of asking, cutting the ball back to Mannion to convert from close range to gift the team their 62nd and final goal of our Saturday League season – with Mannion and Newport combining for the first goal all the way back in October against Pundit FC too.
The loss means that Britwell were successful in securing their first-ever EBFL Premier Division crown, which is a big achievement for the team! For ourselves, this concluded our Premier Division campaign, with the team finishing on 7th in the league on 19 points, whilst the Britwell game was our final game of the 2021/22 season - the club played a total of 46 matches across both Saturday's and Sunday's.
Thoughts from Club Secretary, Robert Austin:
"For us, tonight was an end of season game, in midweek no less, where we struggled to get anything more than a bare bones squad out to Slough for a 6pm kick-off, whereas Britwell were gunning for glory as a win ensured them the title. They were more prepared and had the bit between the teeth all evening and were fully deserving of the victory on the day for their first-half performance alone. They caught us out cold several times and it took until the second-half before we settled and began playing some football.
In the second-half, we responded really well and made a really game of it, and were deserving of our goal at the end. We caused them the issues that we should have carried out over the whole game, but it’s understandable too that they were managing the game and in a very comfortable position, so it’s no surprise that they allowed us to come onto them more as the minutes wore on. Overall though, we can’t complain but can be nothing short of proud of our efforts to recover the game after an awful first-half.
I’d like to pass on my congratulations to everyone at Britwell for winning the league title, and a special shout out to John Brennan, who has been an excellent personality to have in the EBFL this season – I’m very happy that he has his moment in the sun as he’s been nothing but a true gentleman to us throughout the season – he even helped us sign on a player when we really needed it back in October! Again, well done to Britwell on a massive achievement, it is fully deserved."
Hype Train FC: Matchday Squad
Manager: Robert Austin
Starting 11:
GK: Jamie Halsall
DEF: George Fradgley
DEF: Joe Sawyer
DEF: Ryan Knott
DEF: Robert Austin
MID: Paul Hatfield
MID: Matt Snell
MID: Cosmin Huhulea
MID: Shane Cooper-Clark
MID: Phil Newport
FOR: Leon Mannion
Substitutes:
SUB: Jon Watkins
Goals & Assists:
Goal 1: Mannion (goal), Newport (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. During the 2021/22 season, we won our first-ever trophy, lifting the East Berkshire Football League's Presidents Cup!
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
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