For me,
lsta=['/home/myfiles/abc.bob/a file','/home/myfiles/abc.bob/b file','/home/myfiles/bbb.bob/a file']
abccount=0
for a in lsta:
if 'abc.bob' in a: abccount+=1
print abccount
yields 2, as it should.
You can also achieve the same result with list comprehension...