Hype Train FC will be playing across both Saturday and Sunday next season, with the team primarily competing in 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 fourth season as a club! All aboard.
Match Report: Hype Train FC
Date: Sunday 6th November 2022
Competition: RDSL Industrial Cup (10:30am KO)
Opposition: Caversham AFC
Location: Clayfield Copse, Caversham Park Road, Caversham, Reading, RG4 6AA
Final Score: Caversham AFC 1-5 Hype Train FC
Photographer: Sam Austin (@HypeTrainSam)
Request Photos: contact@thehypetrain.co.uk
Match Report:
The train's encounter against Caversham AFC was the team's 8th competitive outing of the 2022/23 season, with the team away from home at Clayfield Copse in the Last 16 of the Reading & District Sunday League's Industrial Cup. This was the club's third encounter against Caversham AFC in four weekends, winning the opening league match 3-1 on home soil down at Calcot, before winning 4-2 away on the same ground last Sunday.
The first-half was littered with action, with Caversham pushing early with a couple of attempts in the opening minutes, with their Number 10 drawing a close range save out of Jamie Halsall, before Cosmin Huhulea and Joe Sawyer cleared dangerous corner kicks before the 10th minute mark.
With the team starting well too, Leon Mannion provided a cross that evaded a box full of players in the 14th minute, with Huhulea testing the Caversham goalkeeper from range in the 17th minute - which led to the team's opening goal. Playing out from the back, a loose pass was collected by Tom Williams in the middle of the park, who fed through Alvin Mugabe, who in turn teed up Leon Mannion to shoot at the edge of the box. The shot was blocked, but only out to Graham High on the right flank, who cut a sharp cross across the pitch that found Huhulea, who beat two defenders before cutting the ball back to full back, Robert Austin, who on the left provided a cross that ended up on target - with the Caversham goalkeeper letting the ball slip through his hands as the ball found its way in at the back post - with the goal being Austin's 3rd in 115 appearances for the club.
A second goal would arrive in the first-half at the half hour stage, and started when Mugabe's high press won the ball back as he shielded the ball out of possession of the Caversham right back, with the throw by Austin finding Mannion, who was being held back on the left wing to win a free kick. Standing over the set-piece was Williams, who with a crowded penalty area found the back post, with the direct kick finding the back post - with both of the team's goals coming from crosses!
The game would remain 2-0 at the half-time interval, with the team ringing in the changes with a strong bench for the game, with Mugabe testing the keeper from range after some good interplay with Liam Bowbrick directly from the kick-off, with the resulting corner seeing Williams strike an effort just wide on the half volley after the corner was only half-cleared by the hosts.
A twist in the game would arrive in the 65th minute though when Caversham's Manager and number 24, David Johnson, was played through on goal after a through ball that split the team's defensive line, with the Caversham attacker composed as he found the bottom right corner to bring the game back to life for Caversham.
The proceeding 10 minutes of play though saw a great reaction from the team as we looked to restore our advantage. In the 65th minute, Owen Bowbrick's fine footwork on the right wing set Brad Matthews at the edge of the box, with Matthews beating a defender before putting the ball on his right, with the resulting strike drawing a top save to the keeper's left. A couple of minutes later, Mannion collected the ball from a throw in on the left, raced to the byline before delivering a low cross that went all the way to the far-post. Collected by Jon Watkins, the full back set and shot, with the shot just millimetres wide as the drive took a nick of a Caversham defender.
After Watkins's shot, the corner was cleared by Caversham, but only out to Owen Bowbrick on the left, who danced around a full back before cutting the ball to Walid Zaky at the far-post, who took one touch before rifling an effort into the roof of the net - denied of a 3rd goal which on the club's VEO camera has the Egyptian played onside.
Applied pressure would eventually pay off for the team when in the 73rd minute, Liam Bowbrick and Mannion combined to free the Number 9 through on goal, with the attacker brought down in the penalty area with a spot kick awarded. Mannion's resulting spot kick was low and hard, though saved by the feet of the Caversham keeper - though that's not where the action ended. Owen Bowbrick picked up the second ball, played the ball back to Josh Watkins, who cut on his left and provided a cross that was nodded on by the recovering Mannion towards Liam Bowbrick, whose first touch saw the ball evade the keeper, and his second from an acute angle was to stick the ball in the net (you can view the embedded goal below).
With the two-goal lead restored, the team would only kick on from this moment and in the 84th minute after Owen Bowbrick was bought down hard for a free-kick 20-yards-out from goal, Williams delivered another peach of a set-piece to the far-post, this time converted on the volley by Josh Watkins - with the captain for the day netting his first competitive goal for the club!
Watkins would turn provider in the 90th minute when his long clearance following a Caversham throw in would be deep and into the opposition half, with Mannion winning the race for the ball, taking the ball half the length of the pitch before burying the ball into the back of the net to take the game to 5-1 - with Mannion finally finding his goal in what was a good display on the day for the forward and the team in general!
The result means that the team have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Industrial Cup, and have secured a trio of wins over Caversham in quick succession this season. Next up for the team on Sunday's we are back on home soil as we welcome Burghfield FC 'B' in RDSL Division 3 on Sunday 13th November 2022.
Thoughts from Club Secretary, Robert Austin:
"Having to be in a position to play Caversham three times in four weeks, and in back to back Sunday's, the team had to be constantly up to scratch against a team that now knows us very well to start the season, and largely the team put on a good showing in both halves to win our cup game in a convincing manner.
We really won with a team performance today on a pitch that worsened due to the wet weather as the game went on, but we did move the ball really well in stages and caused a lot of problems for Caversham going forward. Our first-half performance saw two goals that came from crosses into the box loop in, whilst our trio of goals in the second-half came from pressure from set-pieces when the hosts tried to put pressure on the team. We controlled the game, limited Jamie in goal to one top draw save and a few collections, whilst we had a handful of nearly moments of our own that could have seen the score extended further.
We're now getting excited for the latter stages of the competition, where we will play a host of teams that are very good and will really test the team - and that's what football is all about.
I'd like to thank David and the team at Caversham for the games over the past month. They're a top club with a good group of lads that respect the game and don't want to make you stay in bed on a Sunday - they're a credit to the league and we're looking forward to games later down the line!"
Hype Train FC: Matchday Squad
Manager: Robert Austin
Starting 11:
GK: Jamie Halsall
DEF: Jon Watkins (High 80')
DEF: Joe Sawyer (L. Bowbrick 46')
DEF: Josh Watkins
DEF: Robert Austin
MID: Graham High (O. Bowbrick 46')
MID: Cosmin Huhulea (Parr-Jones 73')
MID: Tom Williams
MID: Sam Bolwell (Matthews 46')
MID: Alvin Mugabe (Zaky 60')
FOR: Leon Mannion
Substitutes:
SUB: Bradley Matthews
SUB: Owen Bowbrick
SUB: Liam Bowbrick
SUB: Walid Zaky
SUB: Callum Parr-Jones
Goals & Assists:
Goal 1: Austin (goal), Huhulea (assist)
Goal 2: Williams (goal), Mannion (assist)
Goal 3: L. Bowbrick (goal), Mannion (assist)
Goal 4: Josh Watkins (goal), Williams (assist)
Goal 4: Mannion (goal), Josh Watkins (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!
