Club NXT picked up a fourth consecutive victory against the Limburgers. After a strong collective performance with goals by Ibe Hautekiet before halftime and Cisse Sandra in the second half, Blauw-Zwart remains handsomely in the running for Playoff 1. Anello spared in the second half with a brilliant free kick, but Club NXT took the three points just like in the outward match.
Coach Nicky Hayen was able to call on a strong starting eleven. With Shinton, Audoor, Sandra, Spileers, Sabbe and Hautekiet a lot of youngsters dropped out of the first team. It promised to be an exciting match between two teams that were in a winning mood before the winter break. Lommel won its last five games and had climbed to fourth place in the rankings.
Blauw-Zwart immediately started the match strongly. Shion Homma arrowed down the right flank and gave a perfect pass to Cisse Sandra, but his shot was blocked. Vancsa passed Sabbe and gave the ball to Martinez who luckily popped over the crossbar from close range. Barely a minute later, Lommel kicked wide of the left post. Our youngsters were alerted, but calmly continued to control the game. Talbi showed his speed and ran down his flank, bringing the ball perfectly in front of goal. Unfortunately, goalkeeper Ivezic plucked the ball out of the air. Homma was then able to take advantage of a bad kick out from the Limburg goallie. However, our Japanese kicked over the Lommel goal. On the other side, goalkeeper Shinton could easily grab a free kick.
Our U23 maintained the ascendancy. Sabbe in turn sprinted forward and brought the leather across. Homma was just unable to tap the ball into goal. The pressure from Club NXT continued and after a clever action by captain Hautekiet, in which he also passed goalkeeper Ivezic, he put the ball in the goal in a controlled way. A deserved 1-0 lead for Blauw-Zwart. Lommel could do little in return. It was Club NXT that expressly went in search of the 2-0. First Hautekiet fired hard at goal, but his attempt was blocked. Afterwards, Vermant kicked at goalkeeper Ivezic who saved his team from a double deficit. Just before halftime, Kadiri tried to outsmart goalkeeper Shinton with a shot from the second line, but our goalkeeper did not allow himself to be surprised.
Looking for the second
Lommel started the second half more nimbly and immediately tried to put Club NXT under pressure. Thordarson tried with a distance shot, but without success. De Smet served Talbi with a nice cross who tried to find the far corner with his left. His shot could not surprise goalkeeper Ivezic. Lommel continued to look for the equalizer but could not get near goalkeeper Shinton. On a quick counter by Blauw-Zwart, Talbi ran almost all the way down the field towards the Lommel goal. He laid the ball off for Sandra who unfortunately could not finish properly. Not to worry, it was a reprieve. Talbi sprinted forward again, the ball reached the newly-installed Servais who laid it off nicely for Sandra. Cisse controlled the ball past goalkeeper Ivezic and the double lead was finally on the scoreboard.
Lommel was undaunted and in turn tried to score the tying goal. Neven passed the Bruges defense and tried to beat Shinton. Fortunately, the ball ricocheted off the goalpost. Shortly after, it happened. Lommel got a free kick and Anello kicked it beautifully into the crossbar beyond the reach of the strong goalkeeper Shinton. 2-1. Just two minutes after this goal, Shinton had to tap a deflected ball over his goal. Lommel tried, but Club NXT successfully defended its lead. The Dutch referee awarded no less than six minutes of extra time. Lommel pressed a bit more, but the best chance was finally for Servais, who combined with the substitute Pérez. However, his shot was not framed. It remained exciting until the final seconds. Lommel got two more corner kicks but the 2-1 remained on the scoreboard. A deserved fourth consecutive victory for our youngsters, which keeps Club NXT U23 definitely in the top six for the time being, which gives the prospect of participating in playoff 1. Next Friday follows the move to Deinze. Hopefully a fifth consecutive win will follow.
CLUB NXT: Nick Shinton - Jorne Spileers, Joël Ordonez, Ibe Hautekiet (70' Denzel De Roeve) - Kyriani Sabbe, Liam De Smet (83' Daniel Pérez), Lynnt Audoor, Chemsdine Talbi - Cisse Sandra, Romeo Vermant, Shion Homma (62' Mathis Servais). Bank: Henri Maton, Jano Willems, Joaquin Seys, Lenn De Smet.
LOMMEL SK: Nikola Ivezic - Glenn Neven, Yeboah Amankwah, Stijn Wuytens, Torras Monjonell - Kolbeinn Thordarson (69' Silu Metinho), Zalan Vancsa, Robin Henkens (84' Christophe Kabongo) - Alonso Martinez, Jordan Kadiri (57' Dos Santos Cauê), Agustin Anello.
GOALS: 34' Hautekiet 1-0, 63' Sandra 2-0, 69' Anello 2-1.
YELLOW CARDS: 38' Hayen (protest), 85' Monjonell (foul).
Referee: Erwin Blank
STADION : The Nest Roeselare.
SPECTATORS : 289