Bandon bemoan wildcard woe

Bandon warmed up for their Irish Hockey League wildcard adventure with a well-timed tough Charity Cup final fixture against Cork C of I B at Garryduff last night, running out 5-3 winners. The west Cork side came from 3-2 down to emerge victorious in a game that was actually the 2008/09 final – which was not played last season, and had to be fitted into the calendar this term. While they will have been pleased with a hard-fought win – accrued via five goals from play, as they failed to win a single corner – they head to Grange Road for their third consecutive wildcard appearance under some duress.

According to the club, their pleas to the IHA have the competition rotated around the provinces have fallen on deaf ears. In 2007/08, they travelled to Belfast only to narrowly lose out to Instonians and Fingal, before getting little change out of Lisnagarvey and Corinthian in Dublin last term. The club believes the hosting of the wildcard tournament was due to be rotated around the provinces. But instead, Bandon find themselves hitting the road for the third straight year, with many of their players mired in exams. Furthermore, they will again have to play on consecutive days, with this year’s opponents – Lisnagarvey and YMCA – meeting on Friday night, as do ‘Garvey, giving a further perceived advantage to locals YM. While preparations have hardly been ideal, the schedule does at least leave Bandon knowing what they have to do. Realistically, they will be hoping ‘Garvey prevail against YM, leaving their clash with the Dubliners on Sunday as a winner-takes-all cup final of sorts. The wildcard also presents an unusual situation for Jason Lynch’s ‘Garvey side, who are the first to make the last four of the competition having failed to automatically qualify for next year’s tournament, having blazed a trail on the national stage while giving inconsistent performances in the Ulster league. Bandon did at least get a win and a tough 70 minutes under their belts against an experimental C of I B side that could call on the likes of Nick Burns, Stephen Parker and Richie Dorman, but who also fielded some relative Division One novices in Gary Wilkinson, Andrew Colton and Richard Sweetnam. It was Parker who gave C of I a 12th-minute lead, getting a nick on Dorman’s switch flick, but Bandon pulled level five minutes before the break when Aaron Beamish slalomed into the circle and guided a diving low reverse into the far bottom corner. Burns saw yellow for a trip just before the break, which summed up a scrappy first half, though the floodgates opened at both ends after the break.

Bandon took the lead for the first time after 39 minutes, Ali Smith hitting full tilt down the left with a stunning mid-air dribble that took him past four tacklers and C of I netminder James Phillips, giving Mark Deane the simplest of tap-ins. C of I introduced Richard Sweetnam, younger brother of UCC marksman Stephen, into the fray, and he made an instant impression out of position up front. He worked a tidy baseline move with Colton, who found Parker at the top of the circle to drill the ball low to the bottom corner for his second. And Sweetnam was involved again when C of I retook the lead on 53 minutes, holding the ball up well and timing his layoff to the onrushing Andrew Daunt, who swept the ball home first time. But Bandon were level again within 30 seconds, Ali Smith finding Aaron Beamish in space on the right, and he squared for Rob Smith to score low under the advancing Phillips. Both keepers then had their moments, Phillips snuffing out Graham Kingston when he tooked set to complete a 2-on-1 with Ali Smith, while Ian Hosford’s reaction stop thwarted a Burns drag. But the scoreboard was ticking over again three minutes from time, and in controversial fashion. The ball appeared to strike Darren Beamish on the body as he attempted to control an aerial, but C of I’s pleas went unheard by the umpires, and Beamish’s long ball found Kingston, who centred for Ricky Roycroft to flickr home for a 4-3 lead. And the west Cork men put the result beyond doubt with the last act of the game, Kingston collecting a long Edgar Rice aerial and nudging the ball past Philips to Scott Sullivan. The Ireland U16 midfielder had his back to goal with C of I’s defence scrambling to cover, but he controlled the bouncing ball well before roofing a high reverse to put a gloss on the victory. Men’s IHL Wildcard fixtures: Friday, May 7: YMCA vs Lisnagarvey, 7.30pm, Serpentine Avenue Saturday, May 8: Lisnagarvey vs Bandon, 2pm, Grange Road Sunday, May 9: Bandon vs YMCA, 11.15am, Grange Road