A very young Club NXT U23 was no match for a more experienced Lommel SK. Just like in the outward match, our youngsters lost to the strong Limburg opponent. With a distance shot in the first half and a goal just after halftime, it was game over for Blauw-Zwart.
After a long winter break, Club NXT started with a very young team. Some key players such as Vermant, De Roeve and Salah had still not recovered from injury. Homma, Seys and Yameogo were allowed to stay with the first team after the winter training camp in Spain. Barbera was also not in the selection. Goalkeeper Shinton was in the game, however, and had to start right away. After a bad pass from Et-Taïbi, Sales was able to strike from outside the sixteen. Fortunately our goalkeeper saved. Lommel immediately put pressure but the Club NXT defense held firm for the time being. Blauw-Zwart itself hardly came close to goalkeeper Ivezic. The visitors often recovered the ball and combined well. They were completely in control of the game. Sales poked the ball behind the defense to Vancsa, but his volley went over the Bruges goal. Karim Dermane popped towards Shinton's goal, but this effort also disappeared high over. Gradually Lommel's attacking pressure eased off and Club NXT struggled to get into the game. Their combinations got better and better, without posing any real danger.
After another nice combination play by Lommel, too much freedom was given on the left to Vancsa, who cleverly pushed the leather past Shinton with a distance shot. Club NXT tried to take control of the game afterwards, but Lommel had little trouble defending the lead. A little after half an hour of play, Talvitie tried to double the score, but his distance shot fortunately went over the Bruges goal. Finally, after a difficult first half, Club NXT reached halftime with a small deficit thanks to a strong defensive block.
