Jones Equaliser earns Citizens Outstanding Europa Draw

FC Honka 1-1 Bangor City

UEFA Europa Cup second qualifying round first leg

Chris Jones' second half strike just before the hour earned Bangor City an outstanding 1-1 draw against a strong Finnish outfit in the Europa League. The result for the Citizens must rank as one of the best for a Welsh Premier League side in European football, a sentiment echoed by manager Nev Powell who was understandably ecstatic after the match and told the League;

"That's got to be one of the best results in Europe, but it's only job half done. The boys were outstanding today on an artificial pitch.

"They threw everything at us, but we just absorbed it all. The other major factor was our fans, there must have been about 150-170 out there and they kept cheering us on and the players responded to them. It was incredible."

The hosts were on top in the opening half-hour in the Tapiolan Urheilupuisto Stadium as Jami Puustinen missed two early chances. Bangor 'keeper Paul Smith was called into action in the 20th minute as Hermanni Vuorinen shot on target for Honka.

It was all action with ten minutes left in the half as Bangor defender Michael Johnston was shown a yellow card and the hosts were awarded a penalty, but Markus Paatelainen from Honka missed the golden opportunity to break the deadlock.

Puustinen and Rasmus Schuller both had efforts straight after, but Smith denied the hosts again. The deadlock was finally broken and the goal came from Ghanaian Demba Savage, the only non-Finn in the home team, just two minutes before the break.

Nev Powell made an attacking sub after the break with Sion Edwards coming on for skipper Jamie Brewerton who was struggling with a bug and the switch worked as Chris Jones equalised on debut with 58 minutes played. The goal came from a break from the half-way and the ex-Porthmadog striker's shot tucked under Honka 'keeper Tuomas Peltonen.

Honka were on top throughout the closing stages and continued to threaten Paul Smith's goal, but the Welsh Cup holders showed their resilient cup best and hung on for a famous draw.