Llantwit Major face certain elimination as K. Berchem Sport thrash them in Fenix Trophy
Llantwit Major line up for a squad photo ahead of their Fenix Trophy match with K. Berchem Sport. (Image: Llantwit Major FC)
Cymru South side Llantwit Major fell to a heavy defeat under the lights in their Fenix Trophy first leg tie against Fourth tier Belgian side K. Berchem Sport, at a rainy Ludo Coeckstadion in Antwerp.
The sell out home crowd was behind their team throughout, and clearly pushed them forward, resulting in a clinical first half which saw them 5-1 up at half-time.
This was followed by a spirited second-half performance from Llantwit, however the gap in quality was clear to see with the home side coming out 7-2 winners.
Berchem got off to the perfect start when Kelvin Owusu pounced on a loose back-pass from Jake Barrow and knocked it around the helpless Jack Lansdown to tap into an open goal to give the home side the lead within the first minute.
Things quickly went from bad to worse for Llantwit, who found themselves 2-0 down after only 12 minutes, with Owusu showing his quality by taking the ball and turning his defender inside out with some silky footwork, as well as having the composure to slot the ball under the Llantwit keeper.
The Belgian side managed to continue to open up the away side, counterattacking numerous times through the midfield, and creating some decent openings, but failing to capitalise.
Their spell of dominance would pay dividends eventually, with young attacker Ambrose Frimpong evading his man and powering home a header from a corner to make it 3-0 after only 24 minutes.
A fourth would come soon enough for Berchem, with Kelvin Owusu again showing some outstanding footwork to leave his man for dead, cutting in from the left-hand side and producing yet another cool finish to seal his hat-trick on the night to add insult to injury for the Welsh side.
Things would get better for Llantwit, and they would pull a goal back in the 33rd minute from early substitute Josh Morgan, who glanced home a header that was helped on by a deflection into the far corner following a cross.
This joy would be short lived however, with Berchem winger Brend Lambrechts finding himself in acres of space in the box after a low ball was squared to him. The 20-year-old made no mistake with his finish into the roof of the net.
Half-time: K. Berchem Sport 5-1 Llantwit Major
Llantwit Major started the second half much better than the first and before long the travelling Windmill Army had something else to cheer about, with Madison Armstrong scoring his first ever senior goal, blasting the ball home from point-blank range after a melee in the box following a corner to get the scoreline down to 5-2 five minutes into the half.
Some Llantwit fans may have had dreams of a comeback at this point, but these were promptly put to bed 13 minutes later when Len Vennekens turned brilliantly in the box and hit a low shot in off the post, leaving Lansdown with no choice but to watch the ball go into the net for the sixth time of the night.
A much quieter second half followed, and Berchem rounded off the scoring in the 84th minute, with Nikola Pejcic slotting in a penalty coolly, to add even more misery to the away side on the night. Despite the poor result, the away fans were still in fine voice and could be heard throughout the game, with even the home supporters joining in on the action and chanting ‘Llantwit’ at full time.
European away days are rare for clubs of Llantwit Major’s size, and they will still be well up for the second leg at the SDM Glass Stadium in Bridgend, on Wednesday the 13th of November, even if the tie is all but wrapped up.
Llantwit Major
Lansdown, Lillico, Barrow (C Williams 72’) , Miller, S Williams, Emanuel (Jennings 72’), Woodington (Morgan 13’), Tweedy, Kimmins
