Casuals had a tough start to their indoor season this weekend: despite some close score lines, they failed to win any of their five away matches.

The Ladies had the majority of possession against Casa Pia U18 Boys yesterday, but their finishing let them down. They went 2 goals down at the end of the first half and, despite  pulling one back early in the second half, the boys added a third. Casuals reduced to 2-3, but couldn’t find an equaliser.

The U13s were always going to find it difficult playing a man short against Casa Pia B and, despite only being 1-3 down at the break, eventually lost 3-8.

In the Men´s match against Futebol Benfica, the young Casuals team got off to a great start, playing a fast passing game and scoring two excellent goals. Although the hosts pulled one back, the last minute of the half saw Casuals score their third, but immediately allow their opponents to reduce to 2-3.  In the second half the Casuals’ game lacked the same fluidity, and another defensive lapse levelled the scores at 3-3. It was a cruel blow when Futebol Benfica scored a winner 2 minutes from time from what seemed a bouncing ball.

The evening’s U18 game against Belenenses Ladies got off to a slow start for both teams. Belenenses scored a sloppy opening goal and Casuals continued to create problems for themselves. Their opponents added goals from a penalty corner and another soft goal. In the last ten minutes Casuals played some better hockey with more energy, and were rewarded with a consolation goal at the end of the game.

In today’s evening game against Casa Pia A, the U15s also struggled to find their feet and eventually lost 2-4 to a more experienced team.

At the Federation’s “VI Gala do Hóquei” last night, Lisbon Casuals picked up an astonishing 6 awards:

‘Career in Hockey’ – Steve Fernandes

‘Fair Play Trophy’ – Lisbon Casuals HC

‘Ladies Top Scorer’ – Angela Lima

‘U18 Top Scorer’ – Frederico Santos

‘Volunteer of the Year’ – Joe Kodde

‘Young Player of the Year’ – Miguel Ralha

U18

The U18s had a successful trip to Porto yesterday, beating Sport Club Ladies 7-0. They opened the scoring after just 2 minutes and were 3-0 up by halftime. They continued to score regularly in the second half, with two of the goals coming from impressive passing moves, and fully deserved their win.

MEN

In today’s Men’s match against their counterparts from Sport Club, the Casuals made a bright start, scoring after 8 minutes and playing some very good hockey for the first 20. But Sport found an equaliser before the interval and defensive slips in the second half condemned Casuals to a 1-3 defeat.

Mixed weekend – Junior teams lead the way.

It was a busy weekend for Casuals, with four teams playing league fixtures. Yesterday the U18s began with a good win against Lousada. Although they only opened the scoring after 28 minutes, the visitors then equalised barely a minute later. In the second half some strong Casuals attacking play finally allowed them to open up a two goal lead and in fact they should have built on this. Instead they conceded from a Lousada penalty corner and had to hold on for the last quarter of an hour for a deserved 3-2 win.

The Ladies then struggled to withstand some strong attacking play by Sport Club but, despite some outstanding saves from their keeper, Sport eventually opened the scoring in the 46^th minute. A tired Casuals team them conceded two more goals, the second of which came cruelly just before the final hooter.

This morning the U15s had no trouble beating a depleted Casa Pia A team. At half time they were already 6-1 up and they scored 3 more goals in the second half, with the last goal coming from a very neat move involving a string of 5 passes.

The Men travelled to Espinho for their rather more tricky match against Lamas. After going down a couple of goals early on, they were always going to find recovery difficult. Despite finding the net several times in a high-scoring game, they eventually went down 4-7.

Ladies

On Tuesday the Ladies played an U18 Girls team from Ilkley School. Leading 3-1 at half time, the Casuals had to weather a bit of a comeback by Ilkley, but eventually ran out 5-3 winners with a good attacking display.

U13

In spite of a new goalie and new defensive line up, the U13s did not really find their rhythm against Casa Pia yesterday and one field goal in the first half was all they could manage in their 1-0 win.

U15

This morning it was the U15s turn to play Casa Pia and, after their previous 2-2 draw, this was a much more coherent exhibition. By the interval they were 2-0 up and in control of the game. A couple of close misses by the Casuals were only precursors of another goal, which they duly scored 3 minutes from time for a good 3-0 win.