The Ladies were unsuccessful in their bid to defend last year’s title of Indoor Champion in Lousada. Yesterday they got off to a bad start, losing 3-5 to Sport Club: their opponents sat back to defend against the Casuals pressure, but were astute in using fast counter attacks to score at regular intervals. In the evening match against a talented young CAMIR side, the Ladies redeemed themselves with some fast and resolute attacking hockey which, despite some weak umpiring, brought them a deserved 6-4 win.

This morning they played Lousada in the last qualification match: an exciting game ended 3-3 and, in the ensuing penalty shoot-out, Casuals converted 2 of their strokes and their keeper defended all 5 of Lousada’s shots for a 5-3 win. This left three of the four teams tied on 6 points, with Casuals missing out on a place in the Final on goal difference.

Their only consolation was that they were awarded all 3 of the individual prizes:

Claudia Fidalgo won ‘Top Scorer’ and ‘Best Player’, and Andreia Rebelo won ‘Best Goalkeeper’. Inês Campos (U15) won also a place in Final-four U15 Dream Team.

Meanwhile the U15s had a tough start yesterday against Lousada (the eventual Champions), losing 1-12. But in their second match against old rivals Casa Pia, they upped their level to win a pulsating game 4-3, with the winner coming from a penalty corner in the last minute.

In this morning’s game against a difficult Juventude side they held out for the first 15 minutes, with their keeper making some fabulous saves; but they were eventually beaten 3-0. In their last game against Casa Pia for 3^rd place the whole team was rotated and, despite going into the break at 1-1, they ended up losing 2-5. However the improvement in their play over the weekend was notable.

See tournament photos:

With only a mathematical chance of reaching the Finals, the Men played their last two indoor fixtures this week. On Wednesday evening against Futebol Benfica, they were 2 goals down after 15 minutes but, after seeing one of their shots from a difficult angle come back off the post, they were encouraged to pull a goal back just before the break. When they went level at 2-2 in the first minute of the second half, a comeback looked on the cards, but a total of 4 penalty strokes – 2 to each team – were to prove crucial. Futebol Benfica converted their first to go 3-2 ahead, Casuals scored an excellent equaliser from a lifted tip-in. They then had their first stroke brilliantly saved, whilst the hosts converted their second for a 4-3 lead. When the Casuals had their second stroke saved and had a goal from a penalty corner disallowed, they took off their goalkeeper to try to force the pace: even here they were unlucky to concede a last minute corner, which Futebol Benfica drilled past the defender for a 5-3 win.

In today’s match against Carris, Casuals were 0-3 down at the interval. They mounted a brief comeback with 2 well-taken goals on the break to reduce to 2-4, but from there on they were caught in possession far too often and Carris scored regularly to finish 9-2 winners.

In Yesterday’s Winter indoor tournament the U13s finally pulled it together, using what they had learnt so far playing indoor for U15, U13 and U11 (of their 15 registered players, all 13 fit/available ones played in the tourno) to play some nice passing hockey. With a little help from the U15 coach, they beat Casa Pia B 9-0 and Casa Pia A 6-0.

After the Veterans won their game against Belenenses 3-2 yesterday, the U15s turned out this morning for 3 more indoor matches at Casa Pia. Although they played some improved hockey in patches, they were a little unlucky to lose all 3 games by a single goal: 1-2, 4-5 and 4-5.

In yesterday afternoon’s indoor match against Casa Pia, the U13s managed to take a 2-0 lead into the interval, one goal from open play and the other from a short corner. However, Casa Pia managed to pull 2 back in the second half to draw the game.

This morning the U15s were locked at 0-0 against Casa Pia B, before they finally found the net 10 minutes into the second half. Further goals then came from a close range tip in and a converted penalty corner for a good 3-0 win.

The Men went down 3-13 to a strong Carris indoor display. They were down 2-6 at the break and simply could not stem the tide in the second half.

In the afternoon outdoor match, the U18s managed to keep Bradfield College U18s’ fast and strong hockey at bay long into the first half, with the Casuals’ keeper making important saves to keep the game at 0-0. But a good attack from Bradfield lead to a textbook goal at the far post for a 1-0 lead. Casuals started to play some decent hockey which resulted in the ball being forced into the circle for an equaliser.

In the second half, Bradfield stepped up a gear, but with the home keeper on top form with plenty of saves, the game remained 1-1. Casuals were noticeably tiring, and Bradfield’s increased pressure in the circle inevitably lead to their 2^nd goal. A Casuals counter-attack found two players facing the Bradfield goalie but, having managed to round him, the shot at the open goal was way off target. In the last seconds of the match Casuals won a penalty corner and all their players came around the Bradfield circle to force a goal, but a great save from the keeper left Bradfield with a 2-1 win.

This weekend’s results showed a marked improvement, with Casuals winning 4 of their 5 Indoor matches:

Yesterday morning the U13s got their revenge for last week’s defeat against Casa Pia B, winning 4-3. The Casuals still did not have its full strength team out but with their goalie back they were more confident and took a 2-0 lead into the interval, both goals coming from open play. The more experienced Casa Pia team pulled back to 2-2 after 5 minutes of the second half with two converted short corners. Casuals took the lead again from open play but Casa Pia equalized from an unlucky penalty given against a save off the line. However, a solo run from the back to the opposition goal regained the Casual’s lead, which they defended until the hooter.

In the afternoon the U18s took on Casa Pia, opening their account from a penalty corner after 4 minutes. After hitting the post at another corner, they increased their halftime lead with a tap in from a good cross from the right. Although Casa Pia pulled one back at the start of the second half, Casuals added two more goals for a solid 4-1 win.

The Ladies then played Belenenses in a game that was crucial to their hopes for reaching the National Finals. In a tight game they took a 1-0 lead into the break, but then conceded an equaliser early in the second half. This unsettled their game for a 10 minute spell, but Belenenses were unable to capitalise. Casuals then turned up the pressure again and eventually converted  a penalty corner for an important 2-1 victory.

In the last game of the day, the Men were simply outclassed by Carris in the first half and reached the interval 0-5 down. To their credit they improved their positional play after the break and, with Carris relaxing a little, each team scored 2 goals with Carris winning the game 7-2.

This morning’s Men’s match against Futebol Benfica proved to be an absolute cliff-hanger: after going a goal down after 5 minutes, Casuals shook off the effects of the previous day’s game to play some fast passing hockey and run up a 4-1 advantage, with the fourth goal coming from a penalty corner on the stroke of halftime. Within a minute of the restart Futebol Benfica had started their revival, and within 7 minutes they had pulled level at 4-4.

From then on, there was a goal a minute: Casuals converted a penalty corner and scored from open play to lead 6-4. Their opponents reduced to 6-5 from their own penalty corner, only for Casuals to score a seventh goal from a tremendous passing move on the break. Two yellow cards in succession then left Casuals struggling a man down and Futebol Benfica took advantage, closing the gap to 7-6 and then replacing their keeper with a field player. But a brave and exhausted Casuals team held on for a memorable victory!