Towners fan Ronan Sullivan previews tonight’s pivotal game at Dave Bryant Stadium

A win for Enfield Town FC against Llantwit Major will go a long way to securing a place in Italy for the finals in May.

Tuesday night (19th) sees the Towners welcoming the Welsh side for the club’s third group game of their Fenix Trophy odyssey.

Llantwit Major, who play in the second tier of the Welsh Football League, are one of four British teams to compete in the fourth edition of the Fenix Trophy.

Kicking off at 7.45pm at Dave Bryant Stadium, Town manager Gavin Macpherson will pit his wits against Llantwit manager Ben Stait for the chance to move closer to a place in the semi-finals and finals of the Fenix Trophy in May.

The trophy is a UEFA-approved international competition, which selects clubs across Europe for “their exceptional social, historical and cultural distinctiveness”, the finals of which will be held at Lake Garda, Italy.

Town and Llantwit Major are in Group A of the Fenix Trophy, alongside BK Skjold. The winners of each of the four groups will progress to those finals, and an Enfield Town win on Tuesday would accompany their two wins against BK Skjold, moving them up to nine points, putting them in a strong position to qualify.

One of those wins against the Danish BK Skjold was earlier this month: 200 Town fans braved harsh conditions on a windy night in Copenhagen to see their team romp to a 4-1 victory in jubilant scenes.

Llantwit Major, meanwhile, have also played BK Skjold: they won 1-0 at the Lon Melin Wynt Stadium in February in their first Fenix Trophy game. After Tuesday Llantwit will play Enfield Town again in April, before facing BK Skjold in Copenhagen later that month.

Town were rocked by the news on Sunday that influential figure in the club’s formation, Dave Bryant, had sadly passed away. His friend, Paul Millington, writes a moving obituary in the programme for tonight’s game which can also be read on the club website here. There will be a minute’s applause before the game.

Town will be in a more confident form than their Welsh counterparts after their respective games on Saturday. Enfield beat Horsham FC 2-1 at Dave Bryant Stadium in the Isthmian League Premier Division to leapfrog their opponents into third place. Llantwit, winners of the Cymru South in 21/22, are currently languishing in the relegation zone in 14th, a situation they failed to remedy when they played Cwmbran Celtic on Saturday, drawing 1-1.

With that win in the bag, Town fans and players will continue dreaming of Italy, gelato, and sunning themselves by Lake Garda in May, but they must beat Llantwit Major to help make that dream a reality.

So, come on, you Towners!

Tickets are available for Enfield Town matches here.

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