Boyne Hockey club hosted the inaugural Leinster u12 indoor hockey competition at Gormanstown College for boys and girls and the first time there had been indoor hockey for this age group.

Railway entered two boys and two girls teams in the tournament and were able to spend time in recent weeks practicing the indoor hockey skills.
With three out of the four teams starting first match at 9am it was an early start for all involved with Railway having the most teams entered into the competition.

In the girls tournament the Railway girls qualified through into the shield final where they played Nass HC, it was a very even encounter with Naas having the better of the first half. However, similar to the tournament in general the Railway girls continued to improve and a goal from Edith Preston was enough to ensure a 1-0 victory to win the inaugural Leinster Hockey u12 indoor shield

Girls Squad that played in shield final: Julia Heaphy, Julia Heaphy, Edith Preston, Esther Taslerova, Isabella Tuite, Jennifer Blake Knox, Jorja Myburgh, Chloe Riseborough, Leisl Gross, Valentina Butera, with a variety of primary schools represented from Scoil Mhuire Sandymount, St Mathews NS, Shellybanks, Our Ladys Grove, St Andrews JS, Booterstown NS and Casleknock Community College.

Boys competition
The Railway boys u12 hockey team have an incredible record at this age group with the u12A team unbeaten in now three seasons, and this year in particular they have a 100% win record against all other clubs they have played.

The boys qualified through to the indoor final after wins against Skerries (won 4-0), Monkstown (won 4-1), Weston (won 3-0), and Avoca (won 4-0) and it was to be Monkstown u12 boys who they met in the final who are their closest rivals outdoor after several closely contested outdoor matches between the two clubs this season.

Railway started off positively and put Monsktown under pressure and it was Joshua Fuhrman who opened the scoring after some good passing. Railway forced a number of penalty corners but could not convert through a combination of not executing and good Monkstown short corner defence.

However, the contest was all but ended in the first few minutes of the second half as Railway dominance saw the impressive Archie Wyme score a good solo goal and then a really good team goal starting with a defensive interception from Blake Halpin and link up play with Robert Gallagher and Tristan Forde for Joshua Fuhrman to score Railway’s third. Despite further chances to score the match ended with a 3-0 win to Railway and become the Leinster u12 boys indoor champions.

Railway team: James Hiles (GK-Booterstown NS), Archie Wymes (Booterstown NS), Blake Halpin (Shellybanks ETNS), Ross Pickering (Booterstown NS), Robert Gallagher (St Andrews JS), Joshua Fuhrman (Shellybanks ETNS), Mushi Xu (St Andrews JS), Tristan Forde (Booterstown NS), Alastair Carter (St Matthews NS)

A big thanks to Ian Casey from Boyne Hockey club and the team of volunteers for organising this new tournament on top of their u16 (February) and u18 (November). It was fantastic to see so many 5th and 6th class and some even younger experience indoor hockey for the first time and such a diverse array of clubs taking part too.

Also, a big thanks to Gareth Myburgh and Ciara O’Brien for taking the girls teams on the day in what was a long day with a 7.45am departure from Sandymount to arrive back 12 hours or so later !

This ends another big year for indoor hockey at the club winning more indoor titles than any other club in Ireland at both junior and adult level. At junior level Railway won 3 out of the 8 trophies on offer (u18 girls, u14 boys and u12 boys), and at adult level the women won every title on offer winning the Leinster Division 1, Top 6 playoffs and the all-ireland Cup play offs and the Womens 2s / under 18s winning the Leinster Division 2 league with an unbeaten record. The men lost in the Leinster semi-final play offs and the Womens 1s also competed in European club indoor and have qualified again for next year too.

Railway’s Indoor representative players – 2024 / 2025

We also had plenty of players representing Ireland at indoor this year playing in competitions in Cape Town, Copenhagen and Amsterdam, and our womens indoor playing in Portugal.

Ireland Women - Orla Patton, Sarah Patton, Emma Moloney, Orla Fox
Ireland men - Steve O’Keefe

Ireland u21 / Dev women - Maedbh le Roux, Ellen Hiles
Ireland u21 / Dev men - Bruce Whaley

PSI Ireland u18s – Mati Errico, Ellen Hiles, Nicole Barry
PSI Ireland u16s - Isabella Willis, Chloe Hiles, Katie Hiles, Clara-Michelle Howard