Railway u16 girls who on Friday finished top of the Leinster u16 / Inter A league with 9 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat their 28 points ahead of Pembroke (26 points), Monkstown (25 points) and Muckross (19 points). The top four will now play each other in the post league play offs and the Railway girls will be hoping to add to their Cup and League success with winning the play offs too.

In the final against Loreto u16s Railway dominated the first two periods but failed to convert their dominance into goals but did open the scoring thanks to a short corner rebound converted by Railway’s Lauren Atkinson. The lead did not last long and in one of their rare circle entries Loreto scored from close range to level the score at half time 1-1.
The second half was much more even and whilst Railway still had more of the possession Loreto became much more dangerous with their fast counter attacks. Railway did win a number of penalty corners but a combination of good PC defence and poor execution thwarted their efforts. With minutes remaining another Railway PC saw Railway co-captain Jessica Carroll retrieve the blocked shot and reverse flick the ball back towards goal and after a defenders deflection pass the Loreto goalkeeper into the goal to give the girls a deserved 2-1 cup final win.

Following on later in the day, the Womens 1sts took centre stage to take on Avoca 1sts who had previously knocked out Railway womens 2nds in the quarter final with a narrow 1-0 victory. The first quarter saw Avoca in the ascendancy as early pressure forced many uncharacteristic errors from the favourites Railway.

Railway pressure started to tell as the game went on and it was Emma Smyth with a reverse shot in Q2 and just before half time Orla Fox added a second from the penalty spot. Similar to their younger counterparts Railway did not manage to turn possession and territory into goal scoring opportunities to make the final safe. Into the final quarter Avoca went to 11 outfielders and pushed to reduce the arrears and as Railway failed to convert a number of their circle entries it was from an Avoca penalty corner with 90 seconds left they got a goal back to make it 2-1. However, there was no further drama and the Jacqui Potter cup was on its way back to Park Avenue to sit alongside the Junior Jacqui Potter Cup in a very successful day for the club.

Pictured – Girls u16s
BACK: Claudia Coyne (Coach), Lauren Atkinson, Isobel Burke, Kate Moloney, Susie Halpin, Katie Hiles Olivia Hanley, Pia O’Donnell, Ruby Morgan, Anna Kilpatrick, Florence Maughan (Coach)
FRONT: Ellen Fitzgerald, Isabella Willis, Jessica Carroll (Co-Capt), Chloe Hiles (Co-Capt), Nicole Barry, Danni Mannion, Lizzie Traynor.

Pictured – Womens 1sts
BACK: Lisa McCarthy (Capt), Maedbh Le Roux, Saoirse Griffin, Lily Lloyd, Orla Patton, Olivia Mullen, Sarah Rooney
MIDDLE: Mati Errico, Ali O’Leary, Ailish Long, Orla Fox, Emma Moloney
FRONT: Emma Smyth, Jenny Long, Niamh Gowing, Niamh Shaw