Welcome aboard the home of Hype Train Football Club. Here, you can read the match reports from the Train's outing across Saturday & Sunday League action throughout the 2024/25 season, with the team competing in the East Berkshire Football League (EBFL) and the Reading & District Sunday League (RDSL). All aboard.
Match Report: Hype Train FC
Date: Saturday 14th September 2024
Competition: EBFL Division One
Opposition: Real Saracens
Location: Waingels College, Woodley, Reading, RG5 4RF
Final Score: Hype Train FC 4-3 Real Saracens
Request Photos: contact@thehypetrain.co.uk
Match Report:
The Train's encounter against Real Saracens was our 4th fixture of the 2024/25 season in the East Berkshire Football League, with the team competing in EBFL Division One. This was our third home game of the season, and only our second encounter against Eton Wick, with the Train being Saracens 4-2 away from home in the first round of the EBFL League Cup during the 2023/24 season.
In a game that took a while to spring to life, after an opening 20 minutes of probing and settling down from both teams, the first changing point of the match arrived in the 21st minute. Playing out from the back from a goal kick, a loose pass by the Saracens left back was intercepted by Robert Austin, who wasted no time in finding a through ball towards Mitchell Saunders, who was cutting in from the left flank. The pass to Saunders initially got caught up in his feet, though the winger was able to keep control of the ball inside the penalty and was eventually tripped over inside the box with the ball at his feet to win a penalty. Stepping up from the penalty spot was talisman, Phil Newport, who buried the spot kick to the bottom corner with power to net his 9th goal of the season in EBFL Division One.
Building on our lead, an opportunity for a 2nd goal would arrive during the 28th minute and started when Anwar Mmanga launched a throw down the right flank inside our own defensive half, with the ball bouncing into the other half of the pitch and towards Ciaran Carolan, who was being held onto and won a foul when he was brought down in the process. With the edge of the penalty area loaded with players, Lucas Coe's set-piece delivery from deep was exceptional as it was whipped at the far-right of the goalkeeper's goal and put on a dime for Saunders to head home to double the team's lead.
The game was all Hype Train and a good period for the team led to a 3rd goal on the stroke of 36 minutes played. This time a throw in down our left side by Leo Pereira was flicked on by Saunders to the feet of Carolan, who laid the ball off for Ilyas Abdulwahab to run the left channel with the ball before having his heels clipped when reaching the penalty area, resulting in another free-kick for the team. With Coe over the ball again, another pin-point delivery was right on the money yet again, this time for Nadim Gharabli to head home whilst on the spin, to take the game to 3-0 at half-time, with the Train limiting Saracens to virtually nothing in a good first-half for the squad.
The start of the second-half did draw a big change in the game that put Saracens on the board for the day, and it was within a matter of seconds from kick-off. Pereira cleared the long ball from the start of of the half, but the ball fell to a Saracens midfielder who cut in and played a good ball to free their right midfielder to run onto and shoot from an acute angle on his right into the roof of the net to bring the game back to 3-1.
Responding well to the immediate set-back, in the 52nd minute the team would have an opportunity to restore our 3-goal lead in the game. From a goal kick, the team eventually won back possession of the ball with Gharabli threading a forward pass to Carolan, who demonstrated good hold up ball before shifting the ball out right to Taren Langa on the wing. Langa collected the ball and waited for the right time to play the ball square for Carolan inside the penalty area, and then when controlling the ball, the attacker used his body well as a Saracens player burled into the back of Carolan, for a second penalty award. Stepping up from the spot once again, Newport buried the effort into the roof of the net, with his penalty kissing the underside of the bar on the way in, to move the game to 4-1 with more than 30 minutes left to play.
Saracens did come out of the second-half with a point to prove and were much improved, and were also given a route back into the game via the penalty spot on the 62nd minute. A holding midfielder for Saracens played a couple of passes in midfield before eventually clipping a cross into the Number 11 in attack inside the penalty area, who lost the header against Luke Follington in the air, just for us the referee alleged that the full back pushed the Saracens player in the back. Stepping up for Saracens was their Number 4 who calmly slotted the penalty down the middle of the goal as the visitors had belief they could get back into the game.
In a game of many set-pieces, the game's 7th goal arrived via a set-piece during the 65 minute that would put the game on a knife edge for the team. Saracens won a corner after a shot from range was bounced off the back of Ajuyah Akatomisan, with the team in green loading up the box and the set-piece was lashed in and dropped kindly for their Number 4 to stab home on the six-yard-line, to give Saracens real hope of a result.
The remaining 25 minutes of the game saw a lot of probing from Saracens, who drew a couple of comfortable saves for Halsall, but on the whole Hype Train kept our composure and saw the game out well, and could have killed the game off after a couple of chances for Carolan and Newport, but we managed the game well in the closing periods to secure the points for a 4th win on the bounce in EBFL Division One.
Next up for the Train, we continue our campaign with another outing in East Berkshire Football League's Division One with an away tie against Berks Elite FC at Woodford Park in Woodley on Saturday 21st September 2024!
Thoughts from Club Secretary, Robert Austin:
"The season is quickly shifting into gear, and for us we've been in a good position to have started the season very well after a 4th win on the spin in the league this afternoon, and on the scope of football played, it was a deserved win. The first-half once we got going was one-sided, Saracens came back strong and mounted a comeback, but then we managed the game well enough in the closing periods to see out the win. We could have had more goals, created a fair portion of chances, and had very positive spells, and it is also great to score from set-pieces, and today that was crucial in securing the win.
Saracens were compact and stubborn, and made it hard for us to play at times due to their scrappy and fighting nature in midfield, though I thought we did well to combat them and advanced well in the game at stages, it's just a shame we didn't get the 5th goal to fully see the game off. But overall, it's been a positive start to the campaign having scored 22 goals in 4 games and we're in good form, and are building week-on-week as we look to maintain consistency heading into the winter months.
I'd like to thank Saracens for a competitive game of football and wish them the best of luck for the rest of the reason, and think they'll do quite well this season, so will be expecting them to pick up points throughout the season."
Hype Train FC: Matchday Squad
Manager: Robert Austin
Starting 11:
GK: Jamie Halsall
DEF: Anwar Mmanga (Follington 46')
DEF: Ajuyah Akatomisan
DEF: Robert Austin
DEF: Leo Pereira
MID: Phil Newport
MID: Nadim Gharabli (Saunders 72')
MID: Lucas Coe (Abdulwahab 79')
MID: Ilyas Abdulwahab (Langa 46')
MID: Mitchell Saunders (Boateng 51')
FOR: Ciaran Carolan
Substitutes:
SUB: Luke Follington
SUB: Emmanuel Boateng SUB: Taren Langa
Goals & Assists:
Goal 1: Newport (goal), Saunders (assist)
Goal 2: Saunders (goal), Coe (assist)
Goal 3: Gharabli (goal), Coe (assist)
Goal 4: Newport (goal), Carolan (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
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