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: Brothers United vs. Hype Train FC
Date: Sunday 6th February 2022
Competition: Reading & District Sunday League (RDSL), Division 4
Opposition: FC Whitley Wood
Location: Coley Recreation Ground, Holybrook Road, Reading, RG1 6DG
Final Score: FC Whitley Wood 0-8 Hype Train FC
Photographer: Sam Austin (@HypeTrainSam)
Request Photos: contact@thehypetrain.co.uk
Match Report:
Our encounter against Whitley Wood was the team's 9th outing in Reading & District Sunday League Division 4, with the team in 2nd place in the table with 9 wins and 1 defeat to our names (2 wins were walkover successes), with this being the first time we have encountered Whitley Wood, and an encounter special to long-standing club player, Joe Sawyer, who was playing against his brother and former club.
A frantic first-half of action saw 6 goals for the club, with the first arriving in the 14th minute when Callum Parr-Jones won the ball back in the middle of the park which enabled a quick, sweeping counter forward. CPJ's fed ball to Phil Newport was furthered to Leon Mannion on the left, who strode into the penalty area, cutting the back back to an unmarked Callum Fox-Spence, who took one touch before calmly finishing to the keeper's left to open the scoring.
A second sweeping counter during the 19th minute saw the team further extend our lead, this time with Gino Izzo winning the mud-covered ball back, before playing Chris Marshall, who provided a key pass that broke the high Whitley defensive line, with Mannion again running into the penalty area after collecting the pass, this time supplying a cut-back cross to Newport, who volleyed home at the first-time of asking to double the team's lead.
The 22nd minute saw a third quick counter goal for the time. In this latest instance, Joe Sawyer cleared the ball into the path of Newport, who took his time before supplying a through ball to Mannion, with the Number 9 taking the ball round the keeper before finishing calmly in an empty net - this would be the first of 4 goals for Mannion to end the half, with the team 3-0 up and against a back-up Whitley Wood keeper, after their first goalkeeper went off injured.
On the stroke of the 26th minute, Izzo won the ball in the middle of the park, giving the ball to Marshall again who picked out Mannion. The attacker drove towards the edge of the box and hit a low-shot that somehow wriggled under the sub goalkeeper - with the ball squirming over the line to give the team a 4-0 lead.
We had to wait until the 41st minute for the 5th goal and it came from the penalty spot after Mannion was taken out in the area. The spot-kick was low to the keeper's left, with the shot-stopper rooted to the spot. There was little for Whitley to cheer for straight from kick-off, as Gino Izzo again won the ball back, feeding a nice ball over the Whitley defensive line, with Mannion dinking the ball past the keeper into an unguarded net, giving the team a 6-0 lead at half-time.
The second-half started how the first ended, with Jamie Carter, on at half-time, supplying a lovely cross from the left wing to the back-post during the 47th minute, with Newport on hand to convert his second goal of the game.
The 51st minute saw the 8th and final goal hit the bac of the Whitley net, when Jon Watkins played a lofted ball over an onrushing Whitley player, with Mannion controlling well and freeing Newport on the right wing with a well-timed pass. Newport drove into the penalty area, finishing well to the keeper's near-post to complete his own hat-trick - which means for the second time this season we have multiple hat-trick scorers in the same game!
Though the score would remain 8-0, we did ultimately have a frustrating final half hour, failing to convert several guilt edged chances, that on another day would have seen a double-digit score.
The victory keeps the team in 2nd place in the Division 4 table, with the team having the best defensive record in the division, conceding just 6 goals in 9 matches, with the team now managing back-to-back clean sheets. Next up for the team, we take on Give Back FC Reserves in league action on Sunday 13th February 2022, with this being 2nd vs. 3rd in the league.
Thoughts from Club Secretary, Robert Austin:
"Sunday's latest league outing was a game of two halves, with the team performing very well to exploit Whitley's high defensive line as we got in behind them time and time again, taking a very good lead into the half-time break. Once we got our 8th goal, some tired legs, combined with some wrong decision making and a few moments of inspired defending from the hosts, ultimately limited the score on a routine victory on the road in the league.
It's always good to score goals, with the pitch very wet and muddy, with the red kit an absolute state after a very soft pitch tore up quickly, which did held the game break down as the game wore on. A win is a win though and we have to move on to a big league game next time out against Give Back's Reserve team. We do need to work on a few things in games if we go a few goals up though, so we have a lot to learn from moving forward.
Best of luck to Whitley until we meet in the return league outing at our ground in Calcot, and hope for Joe (Sawyer) and his brother, Kieran, that it was a good day being able to play against family members!"
Hype Train FC: Matchday Squad
Manager: Robert Austin
Starting 11:
GK: Jake Holloway
DEF: Jon Watkins
DEF: Vince van Lembergen
DEF: Joe Sawyer
DEF: Robert Austin
MID: Callum Fox-Spence (Parr-Jones 72')
MID: Chris Marshall (Izzo 72')
MID: Gino Izzo (Carter 46')
MID: Callum Parr-Jones (Zaky 63')
MID: Phil Newport
FOR: Leon Mannion
Substitutes:
SUB: Walid Zaky
SUB: Jamie Carter
SUB: Sam Paddon
Goals and Assists:
Goal 1: Fox-Spence goal, Mannion assist
Goal 2: Newport goal, Mannion assist
Goal 3: Mannion goal, Newport assist
Goal 3: Mannion goal, Marshall assist
Goal 5: Mannion goal, no assist
Goal 6: Mannion goal, Izzo assist
Goal 7: Newport goal, Carter assist
Goal 8: Newport goal, Mannion 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!
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