Same old story...

Bangor City 0 Middlesbrough 1 , Sunday 11th January 2004

Bangor's miserable season continued as Middlesbrough snatched all three points in a scrappy game at Farrar Road. Boro player the first half with the advantage of a strong wind behind their backs and City did well to limit them to a handful of goal scoring opportunities. The home side thought they had taken the lead when good work by Katie Williams put Cunningham through to fire the ball past the Boro keeper only for a close off-side decision to be given.

The second half was an equally tight affair but as the game went on Bangor seemed to run out of steam and struggled to create any chances. With 15 minutes left a lapse of concentration from a throw in allowed Boro's Ford to put in a deep cross to the far post where Manning was waiting to supply the finish. Bangor tried to respond but it was the visitors who posed a greater attacking threat although defeat was hard on the home team.

Bangor 4-5-1 / 3-5-2 Natalie Hewitt, Katie Williams, Gill Smith, Cerys Gadd (Sophie Craig), Kim Broadbent, Tania Jones, Alwen Williams, Siwan Elenid, Elen King, Mel Prince (Kirsty Roberts), Susie Cunningham

City out of Cup

Middlesbrough 2 Bangor City 0 , Sunday 7th December 2003 FA Cup

Bangor went out of the cup after a respectable display against Boro. Ford opened the scoring for Boro from a free-kick from the edge of the box in what proved to be the only goal of the first half. Bangor battled hard in the second to get on terms but failed to create clear chances. Orlik looked to have won a penalty when felled by three defenders but the referee was unmoved. Boro scored their second in the last minute having fended off Bangor's attacks to score through Ford.

Bangor 4-4-2 Natalie Hewitt, Katie Williams, Gill Smith, Cerys Gadd (Sophie Craig), Kim Broadbent, Alwen Williams, Siwan Elenid, Elen King, Kirsty Roberts, Mel Prince, Ailsa Orlik.

At last! First point for determined City

Middlesbrough 1 Bangor City 1 , Sunday 9th November 2003

Bangor gained their first point of the season with a hard fought draw against Boro. It started badly for Bangor as Watson scored after only four minutes with poor defending to blame. Encouragingly for Bangor the team kept their shape and were always in with a shout. Orlik and Cunningham looked a threat going forward although Boro also had their chances to extend their lead. Bangor came close to scoring but for some desperate defending on the goal line which resulted in a bizarre refereeing decision to give a drop ball on the wrong side of the post from Bangor's point of view. City did manage to find the net when Orlik got her reward for a good performance as she took on the home defence and squeezed through to score.

The second half was a close affair with missing a great chance to take the lead when the winger only had the keeper to beat and then hitting the crossbar from a header. Bangor's best chance came from Mel Prince who fired a tremendous shot just wide of the post. The game had become a physical affair with players reacting to late challenges. The mild mannered Cunningham from Bangor got booked for retaliation along with Alwen Williams and a couple of the home players also saw yellow. With minutes left of the game Tania Jones and Claire Smith were sent off for an off the ball incident although the linesman interpreted events differently from most of the others watching.

Bangor 3-5-2 Natalie Hewitt, Katie Williams, Gill Smith, Alwen Williams, Tania Jones, Kim Broadbent, Siwan Elenid, Elen King, Susie Cunningham, Mel Prince, Ailsa Orlik.

Goal. Orlik