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: Iver Heath FC vs. Hype Train FC
Date: Saturday 8th January 2022
Competition: EBFL Premier Division (Game 5)
Opposition: Iver Heath FC
Location: Iver Heath Recreation Ground, Iver, SL0 0RW
Final Score: Iver Heath 3-3 Hype Train FC
Photographer: Sam Austin (@HypeTrainSam)
Request Photos: contact@thehypetrain.co.uk
Match Report:
Our encounter against Iver Heath was the team's second away outing in the East Berkshire Football League (EBFL) Premier Division this season, with this a return fixture following up from last year's 3-1 home win against Iver. This was the team's 7th competitive Saturday league outing this season, and the 4th time we have played against Iver Heath in competitive action.
To start the game, Iver used a series of long balls to test our defensive line, and were repaid in the 14th minute when they took the lead. Their Number 19 kept alive a long ball forward took the ball out wide to the right, and was able to get in a deep cross that was converted off the head of an Iver player to Jake Holloway's far-right post.
Mounting a few attacks of our own, after Paul Hatfield tested the opposing keeper twice, the team were able to draw level in the 23rd minute when Hatfield shrugged off Iver's right back when cutting in, picking out a delightful flighted ball for Graham High on the right wing, to take one touch before finishing in style with his left-foot to tie the game.
The 29th minute proved a horror moment for the club's Number 29, Robert Austin, when the defender held on to the ball too long after collecting an aimless long ball forward, before eventually being robbed by Iver's right midfielder. Striding through on goal, the Iver player cut back to their Number 19 to convert, punishing the team for a costly defensive mistake.
The team wouldn't go in at half-time on the back foot though as a short free-kick played to Danny Basden in the 44th minute led to another equalising effort. Basden's deep cross picked out George Holloway inside the penalty area, with Holloway using his strength to see off the defender's challenge, before setting and finishing low and hard to the keeper's right.
The boys in red took initiative in the second-half, with the team going ahead for the first time in the 57th minute when Phil Newport chased on a through ball, with Iver's keeper forced to come and mop up trouble after Newport beat the defender to the ball. The keeper's clearance only fell to Callum Fox-Spence 35-yards-out, with our Number 7 taking one touch to set, before lobbing the stranded keeper and putting the ball into an empty net.
The team's lead lasted until the 64th minute when we cleared an Iver corner. The clearance was picked up by their number 29, clipped into the box, with a man at the far-post played onside, before the ball is cut-back for an easy tap-in from a few-yards-out.
The game, which was littered with so many chances for both, with both goalkeeper's in inspired form to keep the game level at 3-3, the best chances fell to Phil Newport a few minutes from the end, with the attacker rounding the keeper, but unable to squeeze in a shot at an acute angle, before minutes later having a close-ranger header saved expertly by Iver's shot stopper.
The draw means that the team have begun our EBFL campaign with 2 wins, 2 draws and a single defeat, which moves us up to 8th in the table after 5 games on 8 points, with games in hand on the teams above. Next up for the team, we are back in league action as we take on 10th placed AFC Cressex at home in EBFL's Premier Division.
Thoughts from Club Secretary, Robert Austin:
"Saturday's game away at Iver was a classic match played on a muddy surface. It was cold, wet, windy and the pitch broke apart quickly, turning the game often into a frantic end-to-end contest, with both teams have a host of chances to put the score at 10-10.
If I was to pace the game, the hosts started well and applied a lot of early pressure on us, though we worked ourselves back into the match really well on two occasions to take the game in at the break at 2-2. On top for the first 20 minutes of the second-half, we were worth our 3-2 lead, and pegged back after a period when Jake Holloway in goal was making a series of great saves to keep us in the game. Then, Iver were hanging on as we failed to convert a series of chances in the final 5 minutes of the game, meaning we had to settle for the point. A draw though, given the chances for both teams, was about right based on the huge chances created at both ends.
Last season, we lost twice to Iver, and have come a long way to combat this to take 4 points from them in the top league in the East Berks, so I can only be happy with our development and commitment to the cause on the day.
Best of luck to Ricky Aldridge and his team for the rest of the season - we're looking forward to our cup tie come the end of the month!"
Hype Train FC: Matchday Squad
Manager: Vince van Lembergen
Starting 11:
GK: Jake Holloway
DEF: Danny Basden (Fradgley 46')
DEF: Chris Marshall (C)
DEF: Ryan Knott (Basden 75')
DEF: Robert Austin
MID: Graham High
MID: Matt Snell (60' Holloway)
MID: George Holloway (Akemche 46')
MID: Callum Fox-Spence (Snell 75')
MID: Paul Hatfield (Fox-Spence 80')
FOR: Phil Newport
Substitutes:
SUB: Colins Akemche
SUB: Vince van Lembergen
SUB: George Fradgley
Goals and Assists:
Goal 1: High goal, Hatfield assist
Goal 2: Holloway goal, Basden assist
Goal 3: Fox-Spence goal, no 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
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