Red-letter day for Bandon

THE extension of Bandon’s Irish Senior Cup odyssey to the penultimate stage illustrates the deep pride of a competitive group of young men as they bid for an improbable prize by defeating the holders, Instonians, in Bandon today (1.30).

Instonians, with a team rich in achievement and experience, were stylish winners of the Cup last season when they beat another Cork side, Harlequins, in the final. A win for Bandon would represent a major surprise.

Bandon have already shown this season, however, that they are not prepared to be restricted by history or tradition. This formidable challenge is one that is calculated to inspire rather than diminish their ambition.

“Yes, we are delighted to have gone this far but wouldn’t it be a shame to stop now,” says goalkeeper, Ian Hosford.

“This is not enough to satisfy us and nobody will be going out with that attitude, at least I hope not. Everybody will look upon this as just another cup match that we want to win and will be going out to play as well as we can and hopefully that will be enough.”

Bandon have already beaten Naas, Cliftonville, Belvedere, Clontarf and Kilkeel at the first time of asking.

A measure of their success is the fact that they had only once before in the history of the club won one ISC match and that was against modest opposition in Clonmel several years ago.

It has to be acknowledged that in Instonians they will be jousting with opposition of the very highest quality and although they will miss experienced international Paddy Brown, who is out with a hamstring injury, they still have international experience in the side with Mark Irwin and Mark Cooke.

Instonians, like all of the northern clubs, will look to a stern defence to provide them with the base upon which they can build their hopes of a fifth Cup win since 1995.

Good organisation and an efficient short-corner routine will be their blueprint for success and Bandon will need goalkeeper Hosford at his best if they are to deny them.

Hosford leads a defence that has conceded just five goals in their five Cup matches to date, but he will also carry the responsibility of denying the well-practised Instonians penalty corner team if Bandon are to prevail.

For their part, Instonians are prepared for a tough battle and coach Paul Hollway says his team will have to focus on doing what they do well if they are to overcome their hosts.

“We are supposed to be favourites going into this game, but we will be giving Bandon the respect they deserve for having reached an Irish Senior Cup semi-final.

“We are the cup holders, but this is a great occasion for Bandon and undoubtedly they will have big support on the day.

“But I will be looking for a team effort from my players and, even though we have been hampered by injuries, we just have to get on with it and try beat them,” said Hollway .

However, they will be facing a tough Bandon outfit, and Hosford says they will not give up a final place easily.

“It is a really significant event for the club and if everybody plays to his potential then I see no reason to believe it will stop here,” he said.