A TERRIBLE last-minute mistake by Bangor's Chris Short gifted Newport County an equaliser they scarcely deserved and kept the Exiles' slim FAW Premier Cup hopes alive last night.

Short underhit a backpass to his goalkeeper Phil Priestly, County substitute Neil Davis intercepted and rounded Priestly before he found the unmarked Scott Walker who thumped the ball into an empty net.

County must now win at Bangor to progress to the next round, not that they deserved the chance. For 89 minutes last night, Peter Nicholas' side were truly awful.

Apart from the final 30 seconds of the game, County were second best to everything and, for the majority of the tie, they lacked conviction, passion, belief, desire, and creativity.

Their biggest problem though is a lack of confidence. Too often last night, the ball was pumped aimlessly forward as players appeared unsure of what to do with it.

Moves broke down as passes either went astray or were intercepted by a Bangor side who were more committed to the cause than their hosts.

The Welsh Premier League team dominated the game, passing their way through, at times, a non-existent County defence. That the North Walians had to wait until the 75th minute for their goal owed more to the goalkeeping skills of Pat Mountain than any difficulty they had in creating chances.

Bangor's goal when it came was no more than they deserved. Having spent the majority of the second-half laying siege to the County goal, it was only a matter of time before they found a way through.

In the end, it was a pass from skipper Simon Davies which broke the deadlock. Getting free down the left, his deep cross was met by the head of Ricky Evans who powered the ball past Mountain.

Nicholas knew his side was in trouble as early as they 20th minute. By that time, Mountain had denied Chris Moores, Ross Jeffries twice, while Kenny Burgess rattled the crossbar.

In the second-half, Nicholas made three changes, bringing on Josh Dupres for Lee Stanton, Gethin Jones for the largely anonymous Allan Stevenson, and Neil Davis for Raith Plant in an attempt to galvanise his side into action. It wasn't entirely successful, with Dupres and Jones struggling to adapt to the pace of the game.

But it didn't matter, the luck which has deserted County in recent weeks returned to hand them a draw.

Newport County: P Mountain, L Stanton (J Dupres 75), S Benton, B Clark, A Thomas, A Stevenson (G Jones 75), M Rose (C), M Fowler, R Plant (N Davis 65), S Walker, S Cowe. subs not used: A Gittins, T Hart.

Bangor City: P Priestley, C Blackmore, A Fenton, E Jones, A Rowlands, C Short, C Moores, R Evans, R Jeffries, S Davies (c), K Burgess. subs not used: D Jones, C Roberts, S Owen.