Bangor 0, Bradford City 4 -The announcer at Clandeboye Park was confused by Bradford City's half-time substitutions.

"... and coming on, number 15 Jamie Lawrence," he told the 550 fans basking in the sunshine at the quaint seaside ground.

Lawrence had already been on for 20 minutes. The player "with no name" who had appeared for the second half was David Wetherall.

He may have slipped the attention of the man on the microphone but there was no more popular sight for the City followers than Wetherall trotting out for a kick-around during the interval.

It was hardly a state-of-the-art arena to mark your return to first-team action but nobody minded. You've got to start the comeback trail somewhere and the midway point of the pre-season tour, a fortnight before the real stuff gets underway, was as good a place as any.

Within 30 seconds of the restart, Wetherall moved in on Bangor striker Philip Dykes and spirited the ball away with the minimum of fuss.

A couple of minutes on, the big defender was advancing to the halfway line before releasing a pass that was an inch or two beyond the overlapping run of Gunnar Halle. Wetherall was clearly enjoying going back to work.

As matches go, this was hardly the sort of competition to stretch City. Even Macclesfield, their Third Division opponents in next month's Worthington Cup first round, would bang a few past Bangor.

City helped themselves to four and should have had more. But with such a huge gap in class, fitness and know-how between the two sides it was no wonder they were content to play keep-ball in the second half.

The hardest resistance came from the pitch, which was covered in nearly as much sand as the beach a mile down the road and had the texture of concrete.

When Gary Locke was sent crashing by a primitive lunge in the opening minutes, the thud of the Scot's body hitting the floor reverberated through the rickety main stand.

"I've never played on anything as hard," moaned Gareth Whalley afterwards. "My feet are cut to shreds."

Jim Jefferies could barely hide his disgust when he took his first glimpse at the surface and was just thankful that his squad emerged bruised but unbowed.

The book of football cliches would claim that a dodgy pitch is always a "great leveller" between two mis-matched teams. Not in this case.

Aidan Davison's afternoon's work in the City goal comprised one regulation low stop midway through the second half and fielding half a dozen back passes. Bangor's only other shot, a free-kick at 0-0, was more of a threat to the gatemen patrolling the shed behind the goal.

City wore their claret and blue striped away kit for the first time and must have felt like Barcelona as they set up base camp in Bangor territory.

Somehow the hosts survived for the first 15 minutes as the ball pinged around the box like a pinball machine.

City attacked in waves and everybody wanted to get in on the act - even Peter Atherton popped up to lash a right-footer somewhere near the corner flag.

The pressure had to tell and when Locke, the first-half fall guy, was grounded again by another agricultural block, Gareth Whalley seized the initiative.

Keeper Niall Currie got his fingertips to the midfielder's fizzing free-kick and diverted it on to the underside of the bar but the ball came down well over the line.

Having discovered their shooting boots, City laced them up tighter with a second inside 45 seconds as Robbie Blake beat Currie from 18 yards.

Bangor centre-half John McConnell denied Ashley Ward a certain goal by smothering a close-range effort with his body. Then Dutchman Michel Evans lobbed over the bar with only Currie to beat.

But the respite was only temporary. Whalley was tripped by Philip Kanell and Ward sent Currie the wrong way from the resulting penalty.

Three up and so totally in command, City then inevitably slipped down a gear - no doubt mindful of not suffering any damage from the pitch.

There were chances for more and the toiling Evans, who looks very unlikely to earn a deal at the end of his trial, kicked thin air when Halle laid the ball on a plate for him.

But City had to settle for just the one more when Ward grabbed his third goal of the tour with a low finish at the near post in the last minute.

Bangor: Currie, W Doherty, Beggs, Maye, Percy, McConnell, Kanell, Douglas, D Doherty, Dykes, Candlish. Subs: Halpin, Smith, Ferguson, Lant, Bell.

City: Davison, Atherton, Jacobs, McCall, Molenaar, Myers, Evans, Locke, Ward, Whalley, Blake. Subs: Halle, Wetherall, Lawrence, Jess. Not used: Walsh.