Bereft of cover after a number of withdrawals, Bangor quite simply fell apart at Strebonheath as a series of schoolboy defensive errors gifted the home side goal after goal.
With Clayton Blackmore unavailable and Kevin Scott again absent, this time due to work commitments, City were further handicapped by an injury to striker Tony Gray as he scored the equaliser at Carmarthen last weekend. Added to which Morgan Jones pulled out due to illness on Saturday morning and former Everton youth star Craig Garside - who was not meant to be involved - had worked a night shift and could not be contacted at such short notice.
Peter Davenport had little option but to play Chris Short and Peter Hoy as fullbacks and recall Frank Mottram alongside Paul Roberts. It all seemed positive enough as City dominated the opening quarter and took the lead inside six minutes. Peter Hoy had already blazed over from the left, when right side midfielder Mark Connolly crossed left footed for Les Davies to nod home at the back post with Llanelli keeper Gareth Williams well beaten.
Jason Hislop went close for Llanelli, but City moved forward again and Owain Jones danced through the home defence, but saw Williams make a good low save from his cleanly hit shot. On 20 minutes Frank Mottram backpedaled into the Llanelli box and headed over Williams, but wide of the post. Then for no apparent reason the wheels well and truly came off as Llanelli struck twice inside a minute. The first goal came after City gave the ball away in midfield, breezed past the blues defence and set up left winger Craig Williams who converted confidently from inside the box.
City had scarcely kicked off before Llanelli captain Peter Cheesman found time and space on the right to beat Richard Acton from a tight angle of an almost unbelievable 2-1 lead. Bangor bounced back as Owain Jones chased goalwards and forced another save from Williams. From the resulting corner Peter Hoy shot wide after Chris Short returned the initial clearance. Llanelli midfielder Neil Thomas took the eye as the home side began to show more composure and - strange as it may sound as they led 2-1 at the time - get a foothold in the match.
However, the Bangor defence now looked creaky to say the least and Llanelli hit the post before Simon Davies sliced wide from the edge of the box. Owain Jones continued to set the pace for Bangor and his mazey run should have yielded something but referee Thomas waved away penalty claims as the "too honest" youngster stayed on his feet when others might not have. With five minutes to go to the interval Peter Hoy sent a long throw into the Llanelli box which Owain Jones headed downwards but Williams again saved well as the ball looked like sneaking in at the post.
Both sides has one eye on the half time whistle when Peter Cheesman forced home a third goal after a good initial save from Richard Acton. If 3-1 was a little harsh it was a cruel truth that Llanelli took their chances and Bangor defended with little conviction.
The second period, played in steady rain, still held plenty of hope for Bangor who must have felt that they could not have defender worst. However, things quickly went from bad to worse as Peter Hoy was adjudged to have handled the ball in his penalty area, a misdemeanour spotted by the linesman opposite the Jock Stein bar. After brief consultation the stocky Paul Thomas brandished a red card and pointed to the penalty spot. There was some sense of justice when Richard Acton saved the spot kick, but with Bangor down to ten men, a comeback now seemed pie in the sky.
For the next 20 minutes or so the then men did well, working hard to contain the 11 and create chances of their own. Owain Jones led by example with a series of tackles and runs which kept alive hopes of an unlikely revival. On one run he passed a couple of home defenders before finding the hard working Mark Connolly on the right but Llanelli scrambled the ball away. Then the tall midfielder raced down the left and tried to pick out captain Paul Roberts with a pullback, but Bird intervened and the chance disappeared. On the hour Paul Friel replaced Les Davies who was clearly struggling on the left.
On 75 minutes Llanelli went 4-1 up as Richard Acton failed to hold onto a cross and the ball fell invitingly for Martin Rose to prod home from close range. With five minutes remaining, Owain Jones again took the game to the reds with run on the right but his shot flashed off target, so too in the closing minutes his shot was held and finally substitute Paul Friel headed off target from six yards. To rub salt in the wounds, Llanelli snatched a fifth against the run of play as Kyle Shephard netted with a close range finish.
There was no doubt that Llanelli deserved to win this game against a Bangor side who threw goals away like confetti, but on another day it might have been 4-4 had the chances gone in. Full credit to the Stebonheath side and their new manager Nicky Tucker, the early season Eddie May inspired disaster side is now a thing of the past.
Report by Mike Smith
