CONWY Borough exited the JD Welsh Cup at the second-round stage after a 5-1 defeat at Gresford Athletic.

The Tangerines put up a spirited display against their Huws Gray Alliance opponents before eventually relenting under intense pressure, and Gareth Thomas’ men will now turn their focus back to their promotion push as they look for a swift return to the second tier.

Thomas said: “I am proud of the performance that the lads gave me, and on another day with some luck it could been us in hat.

“Unfortunately, you cannot do anything about decisions that are wrong in key moments which have cost us at the end of the day.”

The home side opened the scoring on 20 minutes when Owen Roberts found the net, but Boro’ responded well and levelled matter just after the half hour mark courtesy of a Tommy Creamer effort.

That was as good as it got for the visitors, with midfielder Dave Macintyre giving Athletic a crucial lead a minute before the break, and they pulled further clear after the interval when Jack Jones finished well.

The tie was settled in the final stages when Aaron Pritchard and Jack Chaloner struck in quick succession on 88 and 90 minutes to put the exclamation point on proceedings for the hosts.

Glan Conwy continue to head the Lock Stock Welsh Alliance Division Two standings after a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Aberffraw, while two first half efforts from the prolific Jordan Phillips was enough to give Mochdre Sports a 2-0 triumph over Pentraeth in their first home game of the season.

Another to achieve a notable success on home soil were Penmaenmawr Phoenix, who had goals from Haydn Griffiths, Tom Paddock and Dan Williams to thank for a 3-0 success over Cemaes Bay.