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 17th August 2024
Competition: EBFL Division One
Opposition: FC Bracknell
Location: Waingels College, Woodley, Reading, RG5 4RF
Final Score: Hype Train FC 6-5 FC Bracknell
Request Photos: contact@thehypetrain.co.uk
Match Report:
The Train's encounter against FC Bracknell was the opening fixture of the 2024/25 season in the East Berkshire Football League, with the team competing in EBFL Division One following relegation from the Premier Division the previous season. This was our 200th match as a club, and our first against FC Bracknell, who were making their adult football debut in the EBFL.
Sprinting out of the gates, the game would open with a trio of goals in the first 8 minutes, with the opening goal arriving just shy of the 3-minute mark for the hosts in navy blue! Bracknell were passing around the back trying to find space in midfield, but a high press from the team's attack saw Tino Chindaro win possession of the ball high up on the right wing, before laying the ball to Phil Newport at the edge of the penalty area, with the number 9 shrugging off a pair of defenders before finding the right moment to find Ilyas Abdulwahab at the penalty spot. Abdulwahab would finish the move by setting the ball before calmly finishing on his left foot to score the Train's first goal of the season.
Within 2 minutes of the first, a second goal would arrive and again a high press would see the team prosper yet again, this time when Newport chased a throw in by Bracknell all the way to their central defender. Taking time to set on the ball, Newport picked the pocket of the defender 25-yards-out, before rounding the keeper and stroking the ball into an empty net to double the team's lead!
A nightmare start for Bracknell would continue with 8 minutes played, starting when a long goal kick was loose and picked up by Tyrese Weekes on the left. Drifting infield, Weekes waited until the perfect moment to play Newport in, with the attacker shooting low and to the far-left corner of the goal to treble the lead in what was an incredible start to the game for Hype Train.
FC Bracknell could only improve in the game and they eventually grew in confidence in the game, but couldn't quite test Jamie Halsall in goal until the 25th minute when our shot-stopper was called into a brilliant triple save - first when Halsall clawed the ball out at the far-right corner, before reacting to the second shot from close range on the line, and whilst Bracknell kept the ball in play, they lashed a half volley at goal, which Halsall saved again to draw a corner for the visitors.
There would be a lifeline for Bracknell in the 28th minute following a corner kick, with a flat corner on Bracknell's right perfectly flighted into the penalty area, which was headed home powerfully by Bailey Gandolfi, Bracknell's Player Manager, who sealed a piece of their team's history with a first goal in adult football.
A breathless first-half continued with a 5th goal during the 35th minute, starting again with Bracknell trying to play out from the back and losing the ball to Newport's press when he robbed the ball of Bracknell's number 16, who then played the ball across the penalty to Mitchell Saunders to mount another attack. Saunders waited for the right time to provide a low cross that cut across the FC Bracknell goalkeeper Kai Rock, who has made a blunder by not being able to pick up the ball, allowing Abdulwahab an open goal and a first-half brace as the game moved to 4-1.
A 6th and final in the first-half would condemn Bracknell to a difficult half-time team talk, with a move in the 39th minute for Hype Train starting with a Halsall goal kick that was brought down superbly by Newport, who turned and played in Weekes - the winger then charged into the penalty area and released a shot that was controlled by Bracknell inside the penalty area, and whilst to deny Newport chasing the ball back a central defender has stood on the ball and their goalkeeper has picked up the ball on the six-yard-line, resulting in an indirect free-kick. With Bracknell all on the goal line, Abdulwahab set the ball for Newport to power and squirm through the legs of Gandolfi and into the net to complete a hat-trick inside the opening 45 minutes of action.
The start of the second-half witnessed another Hype Train first, with the team scoring directly from the kick-off when Abdulwahab set the restart back to Newport, who then clipped the ball forward to Saunders, who collected well at the edge of the penalty area before drifting into the penalty area and finishing into the top corner - a sensational start to the second-half that saw an advantage of 5 goals with 44 minutes still left to play on the clock.
Bracknell were chasing the game and a few forced changes in our defensive line allowed the visiting side a route back into the game, with a 2nd for Bracknell arriving in the 60th minute when a cross on the left was headed on target but saved by Halsall at his near post, with the rebound sliced into the roof of the net!
Exactly 10 minutes later in the 70th minute a set-piece was palmed away by Halsall, but the defensive markers were unable to clear, allowing Bracknell to pick up the scraps at the penalty spot to low drive a shot into the net, and suddenly the game was 6-3 and the visitors were piling on pressure. Moments after Bracknell's 3rd, a 4th arrived 72 minutes in, this time when another cross on the left was headed on target and palmed off the goal line by Halsall, but the second ball was converted home for a Bracknell 4th and suddenly it was game on at Waingels College.
With time ticking down slowly for the Train, Bracknell came within touching distance of a result in the 81st minute and it was again down to scrappy defending where we couldn’t clear our lines, with a similar formula as their livewire left midfielder crossed, with the header by Bracknell bouncing around in the penalty area and again converted by Bracknell from 2-yards-out. The game was now 6-5 and Bracknell could smell a result.
That moment for Bracknell would arrive in the 89th minute when their Number 6 darted to the byline on the right wing, cutting the ball back to a Bracknell player on the 6-yard-line, and somehow has fired high over the bar from close range - a real let off moment for the team and Bracknell's key chance to stage what would have been a remarkable comeback.
Last action now saw the team defending a final free-kick for Bracknell 30-yards-out, with a whipped cross defended and cleared by Bradley Burles-Nash, with the clearance reaching Newport on the halfway line, and with a foursome of chasing defenders on Newport's tail, the hat-trick hero rounded Rock in goal, though a tame effort on his left drew the shot wide of the mark, a nearly moment that would have moved the game away from the visitors for good.
With the last action of the game in added time, the team won possession back after a loose goal kick, with Raj Benawra firing over the bar after being teed up by Newport, with the final effort drawing the referees final whistle, with Hype Train securing the win on opening day, and seeing off a spirited fightback from FC Bracknell in a stellar curtain raiser for the East Berks League!
Next up for the Train, we continue our campaign with a second home outing in East Berkshire Football League's Division One with the visit of Taplow United Swans at Waingels College on August 31st 2024!
Thoughts from Club Secretary, Robert Austin:
"The start of the 2024/25 season has come around so quickly given that the recent SGM changed the constitution last minute, meaning the team had a shorter pre-season than expected, and just like how lightning quick the off-season was, our first game of the season was also electric and at lightning speed for 90 minutes, in a game that may take some topping as a spectacle against Bracknell!
We flew out of the gates and following our instructions to a tee and hit Bracknell for a trio of early goals to really set the pace. We worked out that they were nervous at the back, particularly in goal, and took our chances when they arose, and deservedly took a 5-1 lead into half-time. Our 6th goal took no more than 10 seconds from the restart to hit the back of the net and in 5 years running this team, I don't think we've scored a quicker goal at the beginning of a half. So, it was one hell of a game to be involved in, and one that is worthy of the cameras for YouTube.
Bracknell really dug in deep, changed shape, and really took advantage that both our full backs had to come off without any cover for them on the day, leading to a series of rebounded goals and efforts from set-pieces, and in truth it gave us a real scare as their comeback mounted. But we held on and despite a few frustrated faces at full-time that we were nearly pegged back, it was a win on opening day against a decent team that will do well in the Division, and one who in my opinion wouldn't have been out of place in the Premier Division last season alongside ourselves. So, thank you to Bracknell for an unforgettable day of football, and see you in the EBFL League Cup later this season.
As for ourselves, I'm happy with the points. The result is all important and in a tricky mid-August game with people still finding form, fitness, and their place in the team, and having given debuts to half a dozen players, it's been a positive day for us and one we will build on in the weeks ahead, to make sure we can shut out games with better fashion. But playing on a new home pitch and in a division that we've been able to build a squad, I'm really looking forward to the season ahead!"
Hype Train FC: Matchday Squad
Manager: Robert Austin
Starting 11:
GK: Jamie Halsall
DEF: Anwar Mmanga (Abdulwahab 75')
DEF: Ajuyah Akatomisan
DEF: Robert Austin
DEF: Jamie Carter (Weekes 50', Burles-Nash 55')
MID: Tino Chindaro (Newport 72')
MID: Mitchell Saunders
MID: Nadim Gharabli
MID: Ilyas Abdulwahab (Benawra 55')
MID: Tyrese Weekes (Freemantle 46')
FOR: Phil Newport (Dorman 55')
Substitutes:
SUB: Christian Freemantle
SUB: Bradley Burles-Nash SUB: Kishawn Dorman
SUB: Raj Benawra
Goals & Assists:
Goal 1: Abdulwahab (goal), Newport (assist)
Goal 2: Newport (goal), no assist
Goal 3: Newport (goal), Weekes (assist)
Goal 4: Abdulwahab (goal), Saunders (assist)
Goal 5: Newport (goal), Abdulwahab (assist)
Goal 6: Saunders (goal), Newport (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
Believe The Hype!
ความคิดเห็น