
Welcome aboard the home of Hype Train Football Club. Here, you can read the match reports from the train's outing across Saturday & Sunday League action throughout the 2023/24 season, with the team competing in the East Berkshire Football League (EBFL) and the Reading & District Sunday League (RDSL). All aboard.
Match Report: Hype Train FC
Date: Wednesday 2nd August 2023
Competition: Pre-Season Friendly
Opposition: Sandhurst Town Reds
Location: Burghfield CSA, Reading, RG30 3RS
Final Score: Sandhurst Town Reds 5-1 Hype Train FC
Photographer: Sam Austin
Request Photos: contact@thehypetrain.co.uk
Match Report:
The train's encounter against Sandhurst Town Reds was the team's 2nd pre-season friendly ahead of the 2023/24 season, with the team on the road to Sandhurst School. This was the second time the club has faced Sandhurst, both coming previously in EBFL league and cup competition.
An open first-half saw a brace of immediate chances fall to the travelling train in red, the first chance coming from some good work by Beau Edwards to run to the byline in the 3rd minute of the game, cutting the ball back to Jordan Davis who fired a curling shot just over the top of the crossbar. The second opportunity fell to Edwards, who raced behind the Sandhurst defensive line after a perfectly weighted ball over the top from Eme Boateng, though with pressure from a trailing defender on his back, Edwards was unable to find the net when faced with the keeper.
The hosts then endured a good spell as they warmed up to the game and opened the scoring in the 26th following a long throw routine, which was converted from close range with a first-time finish. In rapid succession, the 29th minute saw another goal for the hosts arrive, this time when Sandhurst overlapped and countered down their right wing, cutting the ball back inside the penalty area before a strong finish inside the penalty area doubled the lead.
A bad few minutes for the team resulted in a 3rd and 4th goals conceded during the 32nd and 36th minute, both coming from the hosts winning the first balls from long throw-ins. The first was a fortunate bounce after Robert Austin failed to scoop home the seconds after a loose ball that led to a close range finish, before the 4th goal was an excellent take on the turn and another close range finish to boot - a very good first-half from the EBFL Division One runners-up last season.
The second-half saw the team consolidate and created several chances, with Nick Parfitt's free-kick during the 49th minute causing a concern for the opposition, before Sandhurst at the other end hit the bar twice on the counter as we committed more players forward. We were made to wait until the 58th minute for our first goal as Padraig's corner was converted into his own net by a Sandhurst player who was marking George Eaton inside the penalty area, with the finish looping over the Sandhurst goalkeeper.
The final goal saw the saw grab a 5th during the 67th minute when scrappy play from both teams in the middle eventually saw a Sandhurst player squeeze through inside the penalty area, poking home a shot to the upper-left corner of the goal, to take the second-half to a 1-1 draw, whilst to close the match, Gorman was unfortunate not to have a goal of his own in the 88th minute when a fierce shot across goal was saved excellently by the Sandhurst shot stopper.
A first-half of fine finishing from set-pieces by the hosts was followed by a score draw in the second as the team were resigned to defeat in pre-season action - and a chance to reflect and grow from the loss. Next up for the train, we make the short trip to Whitley Wood Recreation Ground to take on South Reading FC in our third pre-season encounter of the season on Sunday 6th August 2023.
Thoughts from Club Secretary, Robert Austin:
"I won't hide from the reality of our game against Sandhurst that we were second best on the day. I'd actually just like to praise the work that Jordan Goodall and his team are doing to improve. When we first played them in their formative years, we beat them comfortably, and are now in a position to have seen their huge development first hand as they were energetic, lively, and played a good brand of football on a 3G pitch that was familiar to them. They punished our mistakes and were ruthless in front of goal when it mattered and were deserving of the win.
On our side of the fence, it wasn't all too bad. We are fielding a lot of new players and bedding in a big new group, something we had to do this summer, is going to take time to settle. Some communication stutters meant we weren't able to move the ball as effectively as we'd like, and ultimately was an evening to really figure out the direction of how we have to alter training and our preparations for the season. Also, our players have provided some great feedback for us to work together on improvements, so this is all good as we look to tighten up in a strong division next season.
I'll end by thanking Jordan and his team for a humbling yet enjoyable evening, and we are looking forward to the upcoming season and some good games in the EBFL Premier Division."
Hype Train FC: Matchday Squad
Manager: Robert Austin
Starting 11:
GK: Robert Austin
DEF: Anwar Mmanga (Sawyer 67')
DEF: Joe Sawyer (Watkins (46')
DEF: George Eaton
DEF: Emmanuel Boateng (Follington 67')
MID: Luke Follington (Parfitt 46')
MID: Waqar Janjua (Marshall 46')
MID:Â Chris Marshall (Longmatey 27', Edwards 86')
MID: Jordan Davis (Janjua 70')
MID: Phil Newport (Gorman 46')
FOR: Beau Edwards (Newport 70')
Substitutes:
SUB: Josh Watkins
SUB: Will Longmatey
SUB: Padraig Gorman
SUB: Nick Parfitt
Goals & Assists:
Goal 1: Own Goal (goal), Gorman (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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