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Writer's pictureRobert Austin

Reading & District Sunday League Match Report (30/01/2022): Brothers United vs. Hype Train FC


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 30th January 2022

Competition: Reading & District Sunday League (Division 4)

Opposition: Brothers United

Location: Palmer Park, London Road, Reading, RG6 1LF

Final Score: Brothers United 0-2 Hype Train FC

Photographer: Sam Austin (@HypeTrainSam)


Match Report:

Our encounter against Brothers United was the team's 8th outing in Reading & District Sunday League Division 4, with the team in 3rd place in the table with 8 wins and 1 defeat to our names, with this being the first time we have encountered Brothers United, and our second visit to Palmer Park this season for league action after our opening day 12-1 victory over RG6 FC.


The opening stage of the match saw Brothers play some nice football across the ground and applied pressure in the opening 20 minutes, with the hosts having the ball in the net from a cross on their right wing via a header, though the right midfielder who received the ball on the by-line was offside when having the ball returned to him.


Chances in the first-half started appearing more regularly, with Phil Newport twice having the ball cleared off the line, the first of which was an incredible goal line clearance to keep the scores level. Owen Jones, starting on the right wing, also tested the hosts keeper with a fine volley from a cross, drawing a good save. Leon Mannion also went close twice when he forced saves after taking on the Brothers defensive line, before Mannion cut-back the ball on the by-line just before half-time, though no one was at the end of the cross.


The second-half saw the team in orange make several chances that opened up the game more. The 55th minute saw the goal put in the Brothers net by George Holloway when he combined with Mannion, with Holloway set free in the penalty area and finishing expertly into the net on the volley - though the lovely goal was ruled out as Mannion was adjudged to have been offside.


The chances kept coming, firstly when Mannion hit the car with his right-foot after racing through on goal, with Robert Austin alert to win the race for the ball before crossing to Newport, who put the resulting header over the bar from close range. Minutes later, Newport was freed in on goal by Mannion and when a goal seemed certain, his left-footed finish was straight down the middle, drawing a save from the busy Brothers shot-stopper. Lastly, from consecutive corners, Austin went close after Holloway's corner bounced once in the box, Austin chested, shot with his right foot with the shot scrambled away by the keeper again, before a corner a minute later went wide of the mark by Mannion.


The first goal did arrive in the 62nd minute when Mannion was fouled 20-yards-out from goal, with Newport standing over the free-kick before burying the effort in the top bins - the Brothers goalkeeper finally beaten and the team's persistence seeing the lead finally opened.


In identical fashion during the 85th minute, Gino Izzo this time won a free-kick 20-yards-out, slightly to the left of the 18-yard-box, with the same result as Newport slotted the free-kick in the roof of the net to double our lead - meaning that Newport has scored our last 3 goals and all coming from free-kicks.


Brothers were unable to ultimately break down our defensive line as we grew into the match, ensuring that we returned to winning ways in the league.


The victory pushes the team up to 2nd place in the Division 4 table, with the team having the best defensive record in the division, conceding just 6 goals with half the season having been played. Next up for the team, we take on Whitley Wood FC in league action on Sunday 6th February 2022.



Thoughts from Club Secretary, Robert Austin:

"Our game against Brothers was played in perfect conditions for a January league game. The sun was out, the pitch was good, and we got back to winning ways in the league after some tough games recently.


We took some time to get going and allowed Brothers to take an early command of the match, though slowly but surely we got into the game, found our chances and eventually finished our dinner when it mattered in the second-half. Finding new gears has been slow in January in many of our games, whilst at times we have had to play players out of position, but slowly we're getting there and as a collective unit, not only weathered Brothers first-half storm, but created a host of clear-cut chances that on another day gives us a more flattering scoreline.


Brothers were organised and hard to break down, but the goals were eventually coming and it was one of those days where we converted our hardest chances, but misses some easier chances that on another day are converted. Best of luck to Brothers until we meet again in the league in the reverse fixture!"


Hype Train FC: Matchday Squad

Manager: Robert Austin


Starting 11:

GK: Jake Holloway


DEF: Colins Akemche (Jones 75')

DEF: Chris Marshall

DEF: Stuart Stannard

DEF: Robert Austin (Sawyer 70')


MID: Owen Jones (Snell 46')

MID: George Holloway

MID: Callum Fox-Spence (Izzo 60')

MID: Phil Newport

MID: Jamie Carter (Paddon 53')


FOR: Leon Mannion (Fox-Spence 85')


Substitutes:


SUB: Walid Zaky

SUB: Joe Sawyer

SUB: Sam Paddon

SUB: Gin Izzo

SUB: Matt Snell


Goals and Assists:


Goal 1: Newport goal, Mannion assist

Goal 2: Newport goal, Izzo 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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