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. Calcot FC
Date: Sunday 21st November 2021
Competition: Reading & District Sunday League (Division 4)
Opposition: Calcot FC
Location: Calcot Recreation Ground, Calcot, Reading, RG31 4XD
Final Score: Hype Train FC 8-1 Calcot FC
Photographer: Sam Austin (@HypeTrainSam)
Request Photos: contact@thehypetrain.co.uk
Match Report:
Our encounter against Calcot FC was the team's fifth outing in Reading & District Sunday League Division 4, with the team having won all 5 outings (including one home walkover win) - whilst this was the return fixture from the team's 8-0 away league outing against Calcot at Linear Park.
After a relatively slow start to the game, the first goal of the morning took 16 minutes to arrive and happened when Calcot recovered the ball after we cleared our lines. One of their central defenders tried to play the ball out but was robbed by Paul Hatfield, who founds himself free at goal, running towards the six-yard-line before cutting the ball back to Phil Newport to score in to an empty net.
With the time doubled on the clock, our 2nd goal arrived in the 26th minute after we defended a throw in, with Callum Fox-Spence the last action in this process as he cleared the ball to Newport up top. Newport turned and waited to Callum Parr-Jones to run in behind the Calcot defensive line before playing in an inch-perfect through ball, leaving only the keeper to beat for Parr-Jones. Taking one touch to knock the ball around the keeper, CPJ's second touch was our second goal into an unguarded net.
The visitng team, who weren't out of it at all in sleepy first half-hour, did get one goal back from a long throw, which when delivered was flicked towards the edge of the six-yard-box and half-volleyed home to bring the score back to 2-1.
With the team looking for some daylight in the game, a third goal did arrive for the boys in red in the 41st minute and started when Fox-Spence played a ball back home to Robert Austin in the net. Austin had to do some chasing to get the ball before clipping it down the line for Stuart Stannard to flick on to the feet of Parr-Jones. CPJ then drove into midfield and supplied his own inch-perfect through ball that was on a plate for Hatfield to round the Calcot keeper, firing into an empty net yet again from an acute angle with his left foot.
Added time in the first-half then saw the crushing goal for the visitors when George Holloway and Hatfield combined down the right wing. Hatfield ended up skipping past a trio of Calcot defenders and delivered in a cross that travelled all the way to the back post and in to the back of the net, giving the side a 4-1 lead at half-time.
Hatfield completed a 6-minute hat-trick, the quickest in club history, during the 47th minute to push the game further away from Calcot. After clearing a set-piece, Gino Izzo was sweeping and collected the ball before fizzing a pass in to Hatfield, who took one touch to set before firing a low-shot from range to the keeper's bottom-right corner.
Not done in front of goal, in the 59th minute we hit the half-dozen mark when pressure down the left eventually saw the ball fall at the feet of Chris Marshall. The attacker fed in Jamie Carter who took one touch before hitting a rocket in to the roof of the net, Carter's third goal of the season on Sunday's.
Carter, who was having an impressive second-half, was involved again in the next goal after fine hold up work by Sam Paddon who collected a throw in well before teeing the ball back to Carter, who flashed in a cross to the middle of the goal, such a good cross that all Holloway in the box had to do was simply guide his header towards the net - meaning Holloway has scored in both league fixtures against Calcot this season.
The final goal of the day arrived in the 81st minute and it was a product of our left flank again as the ball was played across from the right in to the path of Walid Zaky, who released a deep through ball to Carter to run on to and hit a first-time effort with his left that evaded Calcot's keeper, putting the score at 8-1 with 9 minutes left on the clock.
The game rounded out with another couple of nearly-moments for the team to further extend our lead, but it was not to be. The first came when Jon Watkins, back from injury, beat Calcot's left back, putting the ball across the box for Marshall to cut a shot back towards goal, though a covering defender got a leg out to divert Marshall's goal-bound effort crashing off the underside of the bar. Then with the last action of the game, Austin saw a corner flash to him, with the club's Manager chesting the ball down before hitting the outside of the post from point blank range, with several players queued up on the six-yard-line for an easy tap-in.
The 8-1 victory means that we have a 100% record in Divsion 4 having played 6 matches, with the team sitting in 2nd place in the table. Next up for the Sunday team, we host Wraysbury FC in the Last 32 of the Berks & Bucks FA Sunday Trophy at Calcot Recreation Gorund on 28th November 2021.
Thoughts from Club Secretary, Robert Austin:
"I don't at all want to disparage our opponents or the division, but yesterday's game was routine for the team and much needed after a tough day at the office against Stoke Poges on the Saturday. We're taking Division 4 one game at a time and have largely played teams in the bottom-half to date, so we know that there are bigger and better challenges on the horizon, but it was nice to have a good day in front of goal for a lot of the players.
We managed to score our 200th goal as a club (Paul Hatfield's hat-trick sealing goal), have the best goal difference in the division and maintained a perfect start to the season. It's all that can be asked of us, but now we look forward to two massive weekends of Sunday cup football before we break for Christmas. A win is a win though and we'll use every bit of momentum as we look to get to the Last 16 of the County Cup in the BBFA Sunday Trophy against Wraysbury.
I'd just like to thank Calcot for the couple of games this season, even though they were beaten by a few goals in both games they applied themselves well and were a nice bunch to talk with off the pitch - just need to get your linesman to not raise the flag when the ball and player were twelve feet inside our own half when attacking."
Hype Train FC: Matchday Squad
Manager: Robert Austin
Starting 11:
GK: Robert Austin (Izzo 46')
DEF: George Holloway
DEF: Joe Sawyer
DEF: Vince van Lembergen (C)
DEF: Stuart Stannard (Watkins 70')
MID: Paul Hatfield (Zaky 70')
MID: Matt Snell (Paddon 50')
MID: Callum Fox-Spence (Austin 87')
MID: Callum Parr-Jones
MID: Jamie Carter (Stanard 77')
FOR: Phil Newport (Marshall (50')
Substitutes:
SUB: Chris Marshall
SUB: Sam Paddon
SUB: Walid Zaky
SUB: Jon Watkins
SUB: Gino Izzo
Goals and Assists:
Goal 1: Newport goal, Hatfield assist
Goal 2: Parr-Jones goal, Newport assist
Goal 3: Hatfield goal, Parr-Jones assist
Goal 4: Hatfield goal, Holloway assist
Goal 5: Hatfield goal, Izzo assist
Goal 6: Carter goal, Marshall assist
Goal 7: Holloway goal, Carter assist
Goal 8: Carter goal, Zaky 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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