BANGOR City manager Gary Taylor-Fletcher was full of praise for his young players following their 2-1 defeat to Gresford Athletic.

The Citizens’ ended a difficult week with a narrow loss to dent their Huws Gray Alliance title hopes, with the game moved to Conwy Borough’s Y Morfa ground due to an ongoing dispute regarding an unpaid electric and water bill.

City will be aiming to put their troubles behind them and book their place in the Huws Gray Cup final when they travel to Holyhead Hotspur at the semi-final stage on Friday.

Taylor-Fletcher, said: “With all that’s going on and moving to a different pitch it was difficult, but I thought the young lads didn’t look out of place and we were done by two set-pieces.

“At the end of the day I couldn’t fault the work rate, desire and togetherness of the group we still have here it is going to be a special end to the season.

“I know the quality the lads have, they just need the experience and they are going to get that for the rest of the season. They all did very well but I thought having some experience was invaluable to direct them during games.

“We have a great group of lads and the situation is what it is. I have got two players waiting on international clearance to give us a helping hand until the end of the season, and we will just have to wait and see what developments come out of the club this week.”

A free-kick from Steve Smith on 33 minutes evaded everyone and gave the visitors the lead, but City responded instantly with a leveller that came courtesy of Sam Jones with 41 gone.

After the break saw Athletic take home all three points in fine style, with full-back Joe Culshaw delivering a sensational set-piece into the top corner after 70 minutes.