After a bright start by Club NXT U23, an efficient Lommel opened the scoring through Santos, who doubled the score on the half hour. Blauw-Zwart was momentarily upset and could not threaten Pieklak before the break. After halftime, NXT again came out of the locker room fierce, but it was Van Duiven who pushed the 0-3 against the nets for the visitors. With about ten minutes left on the clock, Lenn De Smet put the 1-3 final score on the board.
With Lommel SK, we faced the first of two consecutive matches against Limburg teams. Next week our youngsters will play their peers from Genk, but first the satellite team of Manchester City had to be beaten. Et-Taïbi returned to the starting line-up after a long absence, but Lynnt Audoor had to cancel sick, as did his twin brother Sem.
Lommel was immediately lucky in its first dangerous attack. A cross from the right was tapped in from close range by Santos. The assist came from Salah who moved to Lommel SK after his first season at Blauw-Zwart. Our youngsters immediately went in search of the equalizer. However, Campbell saw his cross go over the back line out of reach of the oncoming Tytens and a corner kick prevented Furo from scoring. Our goalie was on hand during a breakout from Salah. He easily stopped the shot over the ground. Santos was a scourge for our defense. First, his header went wide of the goal. On the half hour however, our youngsters released him and from long range he curled the ball well past goalkeeper De Corte. 0-2, Club NXT was upset for a moment. They could only kick at goal once before halftime through Campbell.
The second half
At the start of the second half, Blauw-Zwart went in search of the tying goal in good spirits. Campbell's shot hit the post but did not go in. A misunderstanding in the Bruges defense almost allowed Lommel to net the third goal, but the ball went inches wide. A clever attack down the left flank ended with Faraas who unfortunately popped right at Furo. Things were not going well for Club NXT. Coach Veldman replaced some players in the hope of turning time around. Club NXT quietly tapped the ball around looking for a hole, but Lommel was not in trouble. Vandeperre who replaced Tytens worked hard to get the ball towards goalkeeper Pieklak, but finishing did not work for Blauw-Zwart. It was Lommel, on the other hand, that netted 0-3. On a free kick, Van Duiven was able to simply score the third visiting goal. Match played, but barely a minute later Lenn De Smet pegged the 1-3 against the ropes with a hard shot. This was also the final score. Next week our youngsters travel to Geel to take on Jong Genk.
Club NXT U23: Axl De Corte, Lenn De Smet, Siebe Wylin, Amine Et-Taïbi (63' Wout Verlinden), Renzo Tytens (72' Alexander Vandeperre), Liam De Smet, Alejandro Granados, Shandre Campbell, Tobias Lund-Jensen (77' Naim Amengai), Benjamin Faraas (63' Jessi Da Silva), Kaye Furo (72' Daniel Perez). Bench: Kiany Vroman, Argus Vanden Driessche, Maik Poeketie, Lucas Delorge. Coach: Robin Veldman.
SK Lommel: Matthias Pieklak, Sam De Grand, Dries Wouters, Jesper Tolinsson, Miguel Aguilar, Karim Dermane, Alvaro Santos (71' Henry Oware), Diego Rosa (82' Daniel Negry-McGrath), Lucas Schoofs, Mo Salah, Jason Van Duiven. Bench: Nikola Ivezic, Toon Franssen, Josias lama, Tsoanelo Letsosa, Jhon Banguera, Rik Vercauteren. Coach: Stephen Bould.
Goals: 5' and 30' Santos 0-1 and 0-2, 80' Van Duiven 0-3, 81' Lenn De Smet 1-3.
Yellow cards: 28' Santos, 54' Liam De Smet, 62' Furo,
Referee: Matonga Simonini.
Stadium: The Nest Roeselare.
Spectators: 450.