Railway focus on winning

HOCKEY:RAILWAY UNION put their off-the-field woes behind them on Saturday to beat Pembroke Wanderers 3-1 in the Leinster first division, but while the club says it will move on from its four-point deduction by the Leinster Branch it is none too happy with the handling of the affair.

Railway were docked the points after an error by their new registration secretary led to the omission of a player’s name from the branch’s registration spreadsheet for their game against Bray last month, the first of the season. That 8-0 victory has now been overturned, Bray awarded a 1-0 ‘win’, with Railway docked an extra point for the offence.

Railway, though, are aggrieved about the punishment, not least because they claim the branch spreadsheet contains an error that, they insist, led to the player’s name being accidentally omitted – the form is missing row 18, so, not noticing this, the official concerned believed she had registered 21 players, and not 20.

Once they were aware of the error Railway themselves informed the branch, but the maximum penalty for the breach was imposed, the club’s appeal subsequently turned down.

“We’re obviously disappointed but have decided to put the matter behind us and focus on getting our results on the pitch,” said Railway manager Helen Johnston yesterday. ”

Leinster League – Division One: Corinthian 0, Glenanne 1 (D Kieran); Bray 0, Loreto 4 (C McKean 2, N Small, N Daly); Railway Union 3 (S Dooley 2, J O’Halloran), Pembroke Wanderers 1 (R McKeown).