BANGOR City showed their fighting spirit to come from behind and secure a dramatic 5-3 Huws Gray Cup round one win over Gresford Athletic.

Things looked bleak for the Citizens early on and found themselves 3-1 down within the opening 23 minutes, but they showed character to come back and get their names in the hat for the second round.

Manager Craig Harrison will be hoping this cup success is a catalyst behind improved fortunes in the league, and the two sides square off again in the Huws Gray Alliance next Saturday at the home of Athletic.

A frantic start to the tie saw Robbie Parry and Marc Williams spurn chances for the hosts early on, but they got their noses in front on 15 minutes when midfielder Stephen Hewitt finished well following a period of pressure.

Steve Halliwell’s men bounced back almost instantly and levelled matters after 19 minutes when Kieran Ellis found the target and the visitors took the lead for the first time in the contest thanks to a superb Sam Molyneux a minute later.

The City rearguard were now firmly on the ropes and the away side took full advantage by doubling their advantage on 23 minutes when the impressive Jack Chaloner fired home to give the Citizens a mountain to climb.

Credit to the home side, they regrouped extremely well during the remainder of the first period, with Williams working incredibly hard to win the ball back before presenting a chance for Les Davies to head into the net with 27 on the clock.

After the break saw Hewitt go close to notching his second when he blazed an effort over during the opening exchanges, but they did manage to get back on level terms after 59 minutes when former Colwyn Bay skipper Sam Barnes powered in a header.

City were now fully in the ascendancy and crucially got ahead once again soon after courtesy of a sensational strike from Parry with the outside of his boot and a late Jacob Farleigh effort rounded off the scoring.