The Ladies 1sts continued on their quest for glory in the Irish Trophy on Saturday 12th February as the draw once again handed them an away tie, travelling to Suttonians in Dublin.

The squad was hit with a number of players sick, including the Captain Ciara Harte. The absence of numbers required a reorganisation of the team.

However buoyed by their performances in previous weeks against Ballymena and Belvedere they settled quickly to the task and within minutes of the start were pressing the Suttonian circle.

This pressure resulted in a number of short corners without getting the breakthrough of an early goal.

The game then swung to the far end and on the twentieth minute Bandon found themselves defending a short corner.

 As the corner broke down Ciara McCarthy was introduced and from the early release at the back Ciara on her first touch latched on to ball, nutmegged the keeper at the edge of the circle and tapped in on the line for the opening goal.

This settled the team and they maintained their dominance up to half time.

However from the restart the game took a totally different direction and the home team were lifted by the introduction of Mary Goode the former International Keeper now in an outfield role.

 The defensive skills of Louise O’Flynn and in particular Vicki Burns were called into play and as the game progressed Suttonians showed great flair and energy as they pressed for an equaliser.

The switch of Hilary Chapple to an upfront role somewhat abated the forward movement of the Suttonians defence.

Once more on the breakdown of a short corner the early release found Hilary in space on the opposition 23 and her drive into the circle resulted in a rifled ball to the top corner of the net which the keeper could only parry and  the win was secured with a second goal in the 67th minute.

 So the quest for Trophy success continues with another away draw against opposition from one of the following, Greenisland, Galway, and Three Rock Rovers which will be played on the 5th March once again