EBFL Presidents Cup Final Team Report (25/04/2025): Old Windsor FC Reserves vs. Hype Train FC

Welcome aboard the home of Hype Train Football Club. Here, you can read the match reports from the Train's outings across Saturday League action throughout the 2024/25 season, with the team competing in the East Berkshire Football League (EBFL). All aboard.

Match Report: Hype Train FC

Date: Friday 25th April 2025

Competition: EBFL Presidents Cup (Final)

Opposition: Old Windsor FC Reserves

Location: Burnham FC, 1878 Stadium, Burnham, SL1 8JG

Final Score: Old Windsor FC Reserves 1-4 Hype Train FC

Request Photos: contact@thehypetrain.co.uk

Match Report:

The Train's encounter against Old Windsor FC Reserves was our 30th fixture of the 2024/25 season in the East Berkshire Football League, with the team competing in the final of the EBFL Presidents Cup. This was our second showpiece event, and had an unconventional route to the final having been reinstated after two teams in the previous round were deemed to have played suspended players, whilst our semi-final opponents failed to field a team, meaning we had an unconventional route to our second Presidents Cup Final.

In a committed and good first-half for The Train, there was a lone goal in the first-half that arrived in the 27th minute, that nearly took the roof off the 1878 Stadium. Starting when the team were playing with the ball nicely at the back, the ball fell to Leo Pereira at left back, who found a good forward pass to Connor Anderson, who played a give-and-go with Mitchell Saunders. Anderson used his pace to win the foot race, before crossing the ball low towards the penalty spot, with Conall Gorman running onto the cross on the bounce before firing the ball past the Windsor shot stopper - a brilliant effort for Gorman's first goal of the season, saving his breakthrough goal for a cup final no less!

Carrying a 1-0 lead into the second-half, there was a further breakthrough in the 48th minute when Gorman displayed good footwork down the right when he wormed his way into the penalty area before getting dragged down for a spot kick award. Standing up to the occasion to lash the resulting penalty into the bottom right corner of the goal was Phil Newport, who has now scored in both our Presidents Cup finals, to extend our lead.

Approaching the 63rd minute of the game, the tie went to 3-0 as we took advantage of the extra players as Windsor, who already had one sin bin in the books to end the first-half, were reduced to 9 and then 8-men within a minute for dissent against the match official, which was preceded by a Windsor defender receiving a straight red card. With an additional 3 players, a team attack down the right saw Newport glide into the penalty area and byline, cutting the ball back for Nadim Gharabli to tap home from close range to take the game away from our opposition.

There were further goals, and a lone effort for Windsor in the 85th minute via the penalty spot. After a lengthy discussion between the match official and linesman, they adjudged that Ashley Rockall had dragged back a player in a goalscoring opportunity when the ball was inside the penalty area - the officials sent off Rockall with a straight red card (which was correctly overturned by the County FA) as the defender played the ball and not the man - with Windsor's Lewis Hewitt stepping up to slam home the set-piece to reduce the game to 3-1 with 5 minutes left to play.

The game featured over 11 minutes of additional time, with a second spot-kick in the 90th minute awarded to The Train after the referees took another lengthy pause to deem that Newport was fouled inside the penalty area when passing to Luke Follington inside the penalty, with the play pulled back once out of play. Newport struck the same corner from his second penalty to secure the 4-1 win, and a second piece of silverware for the club!

This final was a testament to the players, their composure, and their ability to overcome a very difficult and tough game, to come out of another EBFL Presidents Cup final with our second trophy success, also having won the cup back in 2022! The squad did brilliantly on the evening and deserve all the praise and credit for a top performance on the pitch.

Next up, The Train were in our penultimate game in EBFL Division One as we visited Taplow United Swans at Stanley Jones Memorial Ground on Saturday 11th May 2025.

Hype Train FC: Matchday Squad

Manager: Robert Austin

Starting 11:

GK: Jamie Halsall

DEF: Jon Watkins (Mmanga 46')

DEF: Mark Bush (Rockall 80')

DEF: Ashley Rockall (Robertson 64')

DEF: Leo Pereira (Dalgarno 90+1)

MID: Conall Gorman (Follington 71')

MID: Chris Marshall (Boateng 77')

MID: Nadim Gharabli

MID: Mitchell Saunders (C)

MID: Connor Anderson

FOR: Phil Newport

Substitutes:

SUB: Josh Robertson

SUB: Tom Dalgarno

SUB: Luke Follington

SUB: Eme Boateng

SUB: Anwar Mmanga

Goals & Assists:

Goal 1: Gorman (goal), Anderson (assist)

Goal 2: Newport (goal), Gorman (assist)

Goal 3: Gharabli (goal), Newport (assist) Goal 4: Newport (goal), no 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

Believe The Hype!