As the outdoor season winds down for the Christmas break indoor clubs like Railway have been very active with a number of players in Cape Town representing Ireland and a Dublin invitational indoor team competing in the Pro Sport Indoor South African National Championships.
The Irish mens and womens teams competed in the annual Nikosi cup against hosts South Africa, New Zealand and indoor specialists Namibia in their tournaments and both finishing third with the men winning bronze in dramatic fashion with Railway’s Steve O’Keefe the hero in the 1v1 shuttles saving the first two New Zealand attempts after both sides drew 5-5.
In the womens competition the girls were denied a final group match victory over eventual winners Namibia when a disputed penalty corner and then a further disputed re-award was converted to give Namibia a 3-3 draw. Four Railway players were in the squad Emma Molony (Buckley), Orla Patton, Sarah Patton and Orla Fox who formed the backbone of the team throughout the tournament.
The u16 and u18 invitational teams invited by tournament organisers Pro Sport Indoor (PSI) were made up primarily of indoor players from Dublin and they have competed all week in the PSI National championships which has run alongside the Nikso cup. It has been a tough introduction to indoor hockey in South Africa for the girls against one of the top indoor hockey nations and they have competed well in all of their matches with the u16s playing 7 winning 3, losing 3 and drawing 1, and then 18s playing 5 winning 2, drawing 1 and losing 2 with a day of matches remaining.

Railway players & management teams:
Under 16s: Isabella Willis, Clara Michelle Howard, Katie Hiles, Chloe Hiles
Under 18s: Ellen Hiles, Mati Errico, Nicole Barry

Ireland Women: Emma Molony, Orla Patton, Orla Fox, Sarah Patton
Ireland Men: Steve O’Keefe

Coaching & Management: Gareth Myburgh, Rob Abbott Kenny Carroll, Michael Fulham

Pictured (Left to Right):
Gareth Myburgh, Chloe Hiles, Ellen Hiles, Orla Fox, Mati Errico, Orla Patton, Sarah Patton, Clara Michelle Howard, Emma Molony, Nicole Barry, Katie Hiles (Absent from photo Isabella Willis)