Bangor City mark return to competitive action with narrow Porthmadog win

A series of postponements have left the Citizens’ frustrated throughout December, but they managed to hit the ground running to improve their JD Cymru North fortunes ahead of what is expected to be an immensely busy few weeks for everyone associated with the club.

Pedro Pasculli’s men now occupy eighth in the standings ahead of their next outing at title hopefuls Flint Town United on January 11, before welcoming Conwy Borough and Llangefni Town for two quick-fire home fixtures on January 14 and 17.

The home side got off to a good start and almost went ahead on 13 minutes when an Emmanuel Agyemang effort was diverted to safety by Port stopper and Ynys Min skipper Paul Pritchard.

Agyemang would not be denied moments later when he towered above the defence to give City the lead through a glancing near post header that nestled into the corner on the quarter hour mark.

Another sweeping attack from the visitors soon after saw a flashing attempt from Salvatore Pascarella narrowly evade the target, with Port coming close at the other end through Iwan Lewis and Rhys Alun midway through the first period.

Tricky forward Francesco Serafino demonstrated his class on 28 minutes before firing straight at Pritchard from close range after making space for himself in the box, and the experienced stopper had to be at his best to deny Eugenio Dalia shortly before the interval.

The introduction of Jay Gibbs gave the away side a much-needed injection of creativity in midfield, but they were finding it hard to get their grips on possession, which the hosts dominated for the majority of the second period.

Although neither side managed to create anything significant during the final 45 minutes of the contest, with City skipper Pavel Vieira’s header the closest either side came to adding to the score-board, the home side managed to see out the contest with minimal fuss after Lewis saw red for the visitors in the final minute.