BAMBER Bridge looked on course to pull of a shock against Nationwide First Division new boys Manchester City at Irongate on Tuesday.

Brig set out to capitalise on any City mistakes, which were few and far between even though the Maine Road boys fielded a very inexperienced side.

Nigel Greenwood had a great chance five minutes on after he charged through from the right, only to power the ball into the side netting.

But there was no such error when Steve Aspinall tried his luck of 41 minutes with a screaming 25-yard attempt which gave Brig the lead.

With Ian Bryson teaming up with Wayne Maddock in the heart of Brig's defence, City struggled to find a way through, even though their team contained four first team players.

During the second-half Manchester City began to dominate, but Craig Dootson proved he hadn't lost any of his form over the summer by making a string of superb saves.

Substitute Chris Greenacre finally found a way past Dootson when his header pulled the scores level four minutes from time. The game ended Bamber Bridge 1 Manchester City 1.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.