Top row: Sara Kelly, Kristin Minger, Linda Woo, Fiona Cullen, Rebecca Biernat, Linda Ryan (coach) Front row: Donna Cunningham, Annie Murphy, Ashling Bryant, Olive Ennis (match MVP).

The three San Francisco Ladies' Gaelic Football teams came together under sunny skies on Sunday, October 9th for their annual Railway Cup games. Each team played seven aside and ten minute halves, and although it doesn't sound like much, between the heat and lack of exercise since the end of season, it was a long ten minutes for most! The first game was a hotly contested outing which pitted a talent-heavy Munster against an equally sharp Connacht team. The final score amounted to 11 (Munster) to 10 (Connacht), although there are plenty on the Connacht team who would disagree.

Next up was Ulster vs. Lenister in what was perhaps the most lopsided result of the day. Leinster seemed to gel as a team quickly, which aided them to their 7-3 to 1-1 victory. And although no one knew it at the time, the players in this game would also be the contenders for the coveted Railway Cup, er, cup.

Results for the rest of the day:

Game 3: Leinster vs. Munster (tie)
Game 4: Ulster (w) vs. Connacht
Game 5: Leinster (w) vs. Connacht

Game 6 - Final: After their first game jitters, Ulster bounced back with gusto, making it into the final against Leinster. Having just played the game before, Leinster looked a bit tired and didn't seem prepared for this new-and-improved Ulster team. The first half was like watching a beautifully-staged battle of wits between Ulster forward Siobahn Dolan and Leinster goalie Annie Murphy (who did a fantastic job managing the assault), and Leinster forward Olive Ennis and Ulster back Jo Lynch. It was an evenly matched 10 minutes that ended with Ulster up by two points at the half. Once the whistle for the second-half blew, however, it was a completely different Leinster team. The girls were a well-oiled machine: Linda Woo, Donna Finn, Kristin Minger and Fiona Cullen took turns in the backline getting the ball to midfielders Rebecca Biernat and Sara Kelly, who would tirelessly work the ball up the middle and into the capable hands of forwards Olive Ennis (who was voted MVP of the game) and Ashling Bryant. In the end, Leinster won their second Railway Cup in a row, with a final score of 4-6 to 2-4.

The ladies teams would like to thank Malachy Higgins for referring and all the coaches for their time and strategies. More thanks to Jo Lynch, Linda Woo, Olive Ennis, Barbara Dornseif and anyone and everyone else for planning the day and co-ordinating efforts with their respective teams. Final thanks to Donaghy's for the after-game grub!