Bangor City’s European dream came to an abrupt end against Danish side Lyngby BK as they were comfortably defeated 3-0 at the Bangor University Stadium.
The Welsh outfit crashed out 4-0 on aggregate, with a double from influential midfielder Kristoffer Larssen.
Bangor returned to Europe this season and despite losing star man Henry Jones this summer, the North Walian side only lost 1-0 in the away leg, giving them the opportunity to take the game to the favourites back at their own ground. However, things proved to be more difficult than that for the Welsh outfit.
Just two minutes into the game as Larssen opened the scoring, and he bagged a second before the half’s end with a Jeppe Kjaer goal sandwiched in between. Despite an improved second half performance, Kevin Nicholson’s men never really imposed a real threat on the Lyngby goal.
Bangor started the game 1-0 down from the away leg, however things went from bad to worse just two minutes into the game as Damien Allen’s misplaced pass was tucked expertly into the corner by Larssen, denting the home side’s chances of qualifying for the next round early on. The goal left Bangor with a mountain to climb if they were to get anything out of the game.
And the visitors continued to pile the pressure onto the hosts, with Mikkel Rygaard Jensen the next to test Connor Roberts in the Bangor goal, but his tame shot was easily held. They were soon awarded a free kick inside the area, but goalscorer Larssen’s effort deflected wide for a corner.
Bangor were thwarted by the Danish side and failed to impose themselves on the visitors. They only managed to get their first real attempt on goal on 30 minutes when Laurence Wilson fired low and wide from range after half an hour.
Dean Rittenburg was the creative lynchpin in the Bangor side, however he often found himself isolated or with limited options when going forward, as the away side continued to dominate the half.
Lyngby ended any hopes of a Bangor comeback on 36 minutes however, as Larssen fed Michael Lumb on the left side, who picked out Kjaer in the area who slotted home with a controlled first time effort. Just seven minutes later, Larssen doubled his goal tally for the evening after he latched onto a scooped pass over the Bangor defence, before slotting past Roberts in the goal to make it 3-0 before the break.
After the break, Larssen was replaced, and Bangor took a bit more of a stranglehold in the game. However, it counted for little as they never really tested the Danish side’s goalkeeper. In fact, it was Lyngby who had the best opportunity of the second period, as on 67 minutes, a ball was centred for Fosgaard who found himself in acres of space, but his first time effort was acrobatically tipped over the bar by Roberts, who then again saved with ease from the resulting corner.
Lyngby then had another golden opportunity to further extend their lead, however Hebo fired over from eight yards out, after he was centred the ball by his team-mate.
Bangor tested the Lyngby goal for the first time in the match when Luke Wall was played in on the right, however the keeper stood tall and thwarted the effort and the defence cleared any danger.
Kjaer wasted an opportunity after some fantastic footwork, but Bangor were denied by some fantastic goalkeeping late on, as Gary Taylor-Fletcher backheeled for Wilson who craftily dinked the ball towards the top corner, and it seemed all but destined for the back of the net, if it wasn’t for the fantastic diving save of Mikkel Andersen, as he denied Bangor’s last opportunity of the game.
(Featured Image: EventPhotoWales)
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