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 pre-season coverage right here as we provide match reports and photo galleries from the start of our third season as a club! All aboard.
Match Report: Hurst FC Reserves vs. Hype Train FC
Date: 14th August 2021
Competition: Pre-Season Friendly
Opposition: Hurst FC Reserves
Location: Bohunt School, Arborfield, Reading RG2 9GB
Final Score: Hurst FC Reserves 2-2 Hype Train FC
Photographer: Sam Austin (@HypeTrainSam)
Request Photos: contact@thehypetrain.co.uk
Match Report:
The team's first Saturday pre-season outing was against Thames Valley Premier League Division 2 outfit, Hurst FC Reserves, with the game played on 3G at Bohunt School in Wokingham at 10:15am.
With a bare-bones squad for the trip, the squad in orange started brightly and threatened several times before the 20-minute mark, with Graham High and Phil Newport both going close when played through on goal. The first breakthrough of the game only took until the 23rd minute and it was when Newport hounded the Hurst defence following a free-kick at their own by-line, with the pass from the goalkeeper miss-controlled by their defender, with Newport collecting the ball and composing himself as the Forward slotted into the net for the opening goal of the game.
Hurst didn't have to wait long to draw back level in the game though, with former Hype Train player, Noah Hodge, collecting the ball on the left, beating his man o the touchline before cutting back for a player in white to convert home from six-yards-out.
The second-half saw the Train take the lead again less than two minutes after the restart when a well-worked move down the left-flank saw Man of the the Match, George Holloway, collect the ball and feed the ball to High, who rounded the Hurst keeper before slotting into an empty net with his left-foot.
Our hosts again found a way back level in the 55th minute, when a loose giveaway following a goal-kick fell invitingly for their attacker to slot home from outside the box against our makeshift keeper, Sam Bolwell.
Both teams threatened to add a third, though after a series of long-shots from both teams, both teams had to accept the draw in this early morning pre-season encounter.
Thoughts from Club Secretary, Robert Austin:
"Back to it on Saturday's, I think given our circumstances for the game, we had a good showing after a difficult week trying to field a team. We had enough clear-cut chances to win the game, and could have been out of sight in the first-half if we had our shooting boots on. The longer the game went on though, the lack of players on the side were taking its tool as Hurst routinely countered and hit shots from range.
As a unit, we had patches where we played well, though our play broke-up in the second-half and we fell into a pattern of not being able to string some simple passes together. What was good though was challenging ourselves with a new formation, testing out some new players, and not being afraid to attack a good Hurst side - once we get closer to the season and have more of our players available, we'll be in a lot stronger of a position, hopefully.
It was great seeing one of our former players too, and thanks to Hurst for doing the legwork to organise the fixture. Best of luck to your team in TVPL Division 2 next season!"
Hype Train FC: Matchday Squad
Manager: Brian Mullally
Starting 11:
GK: Sam Bolwell
DEF: Aman Sanghera
DEF: Vincent van Lembergen (C)
DEF: Robert Austin
MID: Jon Watkins
MID: Scott Terry (Paddon 46')
MID: George Holloway
MID: Callum Fox-Spence
MID: Ash Ali (Mullally 46', Terry 55')
FOR: Phil Newport
FOR: Graham High (Ali 76')
Substitutes:
SUB: Sam Paddon
SUB: Brian Mullally
Goals and Assists:
Goal 1: Newport goal, no assist
Goal 2: High goal, Holloway 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!
