HISTORY will not be on Airbus UK Broughton’s side in their big Welsh Cup quarter-final tie at bogey team Bangor City on Saturday (3pm).
The Wingmakers have lost 10 of their last 11 Corbett Sports Welsh Premier League clashes against the Citizens and suffered a crushing 5-0 defeat when the sides met at the same stage of the cup four years ago.
That would therefore suggest that Bangor should be considered favourites for the live S4C encounter.
But Airbus showed in their latest league outing, a top-of-the-table clash against The New Saints on Saturday, they are now a force to be reckoned with.
Andy Preece’s second-placed men could count themselves extremely unfortunate to go down to a 2-1 home loss to the Saints, who moved 10 points clear at the summit as a result.
Wingmakers boss Preece admitted after the match – which was played in front of a club record crowd for a league game at the Hollingsworth Group Stadium (625) – that it will take a remarkable turnaround in fortunes to prevent the full-time Saints from making it back-to-back titles.
But the former Stockport County and Crystal Palace striker refused to be downbeat.
Preece said: “All that we missed was a cutting edge. Over the play no-one could deny that we deserved something out of the game – we even could have won it.”
Airbus controlled the early stages of Saturday’s showdown – broadcast live on S4C – only to be stunned by two goals in five minutes from the defending champions.
The Wingmakers hit back before half-time courtesy of a bundled Chris Budrys finish and went on to dominate large parts of the second period.
But a failure to take the opportunities that came their way – the clearest of which fell to Wayne Riley – meant their eight-match unbeaten home run came to an end.
