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: Hype Train FC vs. Brothers United
Date: Sunday 6th March 2022
Competition: Reading & District Sunday League, Division 4
Opposition: Brothers United
Location: Calcot Recreation Ground, Calcot, Reading, RG31 4XD
Final Score: Hype Train FC 5-0 Brothers United
Photographer: Sam Austin (@HypeTrainSam)
Request Photos: contact@thehypetrain.co.uk
Match Report:
Our encounter against Brothers United was the team's 11th league outing in RDSL Division 4 (14th overall due to a trio of walkover wins) and the return fixture from February's 2-0 away win against Brothers at Palmer Park, with Phil Newport scoring a brace of free-kicks the last time out to secure the team all three points.
Last time out against Brothers, despite having a host of opportunities to open the scoring we went in 0-0 at half-time, but today it only took us until the 6th minute to open the scoring and it all happened from a corner kick. Callum Fox-Spence stook over the corner and delivered a dangerous ball to the back post, which George Holloway headed down and just over the line. A Brothers defender on the post stabbed the ball back out, which was latterly converted by Leon Mannion to be sure, though our VEO camera shows the ball crossed the line from Holloway's initial header.
The lead was doubled in the 14th minute when we recovered the ball on our left side. Stuart Stannard intercepted an attempted through ball, which was then collected by Jamie Carter who countered with a through pass to Mannion - the Forward then had his own squared pass slightly deflected, with Phil Newport winning the race to the ball, pushing the ball slightly left and finishing well and low to the far-left post to double our lead.
Brothers probed Holloway with a couple of set-pieces, and even at 0-0 missed a one-on-one that could have swayed the game early on, though the game ran away from them in the 28th minute when we countered again, this time with Phil Newport playing through Mannion, who cut in on his left-footed six-yards-out and clinically buried his effort to the far-post to give us a commanding 3-0 lead.
The second-half saw two final goals, the first saw good footwork from Newport on the left escape the clutches of a couple of Brothers players before cutting the ball back to Holloway to smash in a great finish from the edge of the penalty area - an unstoppable finish from our Man of the Match!
Pressing until the end, our final chance arose in the 85th minute when Newport was dragged down just inside the penalty area, with the attacker stepping up to the spot to put the ball under the keeper's body to his right, rounding off the scoring for the day.
The win keeps the team in second place in the RDSL Division 4 table, with 37 points from 14 games played, with the team boasting the best defending record having only conceded 7 goals (an average of 1 conceded every 2 games). Next up for the team, we are at home to Give Back FC Reserves in Division 4 on Sunday 13th March 2022.
Thoughts from Club Secretary, Robert Austin:
"After two weeks without any football, two days of football this weekend was so, so needed, for everyone in the squad, especially after some frustrations as clubs pulled out on us at the last minute. On Saturday, we had a great result as we drew 2-2 against Singh Sabha, and fortunately we fed of that confidence today and were in top form all morning against Brothers from first whistle to last.
Aside from adjusting to how the opposition attacked us, and a few shaky moments, it was a confident performance all round from the guys - the defenders were solid and Jake in goal never looked like being breached as we were solid across the back. In midfield, Callum Fox-Spence, and in particular George Holloway, were both busy and dominant against strong players, whilst up top we found early goals and settled, where we could, into a game on a bobbly pitch. Our goals too were well worked and for once were slightly more clinical than usual.
Last time out against Brothers, we struggled to take our chances, but today the early goals meant that there was no pressure and in turn that made us more composed in front of goal. It's just a shame the game had to end, we have been in great form this weekend and an overall top couple of days for the club. Today though, we managed the day well, got everybody on, gave a debut to Shane Cooper-Clark, and can build on some confidence ahead of big games this month.
Good luck to James and the team at Brothers for the rest of the season and hopefully see you guys later down the line!"
Hype Train FC: Matchday Squad
Manager: Robert Austin
Starting 11:
GK: Jake Holloway
DEF: Joe Sawyer (Gibbons 57')
DEF: Chris Marshall
DEF: Stuart Stannard (Sawyer 80')
DEF: Jamie Carter (Austin 80')
MID: Paul Hatfield (Newport 80')
MID: Callum Fox-Spence (Izzo 46')
MID: George Holloway (Fox-Spence 70')
MID: Owen Jones (Cooper-Clark 57')
MID: Phil Newport (Zaky 65')
FOR: Leon Mannion (Jones 70')
Substitutes:
SUB: Walid Zaky
SUB: Gino Izzo
SUB: Callum Gibbons
SUB: Shane Cooper-Clark
SUB: Robert Austin
Goals and Assists:
Goal 1: Holloway (goal), Fox-Spence (assist)
Goal 2: Newport (goal), Mannion (assist)
Goal 3: Mannion (goal), Newport (assist)
Goal 4: Holloway (goal), Newport (assist)
Goal 5: 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.
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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