At this morning’s U12 Tournament at the Estádio Nacional, the Casuals won both their games against Carris 4-2 and 1-0.

This was followed by the U18s match against Lousada. The Casuals went ahead after 15 minutes from a fierce reverse stick strike from the edge of the circle, and took this advantage into the break.  The second half continued to see both teams battling hard, but Lousada scrambled an equaliser over the line. Casuals pulled ahead again from a high penalty corner conversion, but their opponents again equalised with a simple tap-in at the far post. Even a last minute penalty corner to the Casuals could not give them the win they needed to overtake their rivals at the top of the table, and 2 shots off the post (one in each half) and several other unconverted chances may have left them feeling they deserved better than the 2-2 draw.

In yesterday’s league match away to Espinho, the Men struggled to contain their opponents in the first half. After going 1-3 down, they then conceded a fourth on the stroke of half time. But a much improved second half from the Casuals saw each side add one more goal for a 5-2 Espinho win, with 4 of the total goals coming from penalty corners.

This morning the U12s played their home tournament. In the first game against Futebol Benfica, Casuals managed to go into the interval with a 2-0 lead, in spite of an under-strength side due to two key absences. However, it proved too hard to hold onto the lead, playing without a goalie and with an injury to one of the defenders and Futebol Benfica scored four goals in a row to win the game 4-2. Casuals played a younger team in the second game against Carris but still won 4-0.

In the afternoon, the U16 Mixed team played ESLFB in their first league match. Although Casuals had most of the possession throughout and several chances to open the scoring, they were frustrated by some good goalkeeping. It was only in the final seconds that they managed to score for a 1-0 win.

Two Casuals teams travelled to Lousada yesterday for their league matches. In the first game, the U18s seemed to be in control as they went into half time with a 3-1 advantage. But Lousada started the second half on the attack, and some sloppy defending saw them score 3 goals in 7 minutes to take a 4-3 lead. Casuals went close in the final minutes, including a flick that just cleared the bar, but were unable to find another goal.

The Ladies however restored Casuals pride with a narrow 1-o win. Despite a very open game, neither side was able to find the net in the first half. But Casuals took the lead early in the second from a great reverse stick shot. Lousada came back strongly and on several occasions Casuals had their goalkeeper to thank for keeping them in the game and ensuring victory.

This morning the Men hosted Futebol Benfica in their league fixture. Despite the visitors holding a 1-0 lead at the interval from a penalty corner after 9 minutes, Casuals held their own and equalised – also from a low penalty corner strike. They showed some much improved play against the new league leaders but were cruelly undone by a freakish own goal 7 minutes from time. There was further frustration when a Casuals strike from the top of the circle clattered off the post and several penalty corner chances for an equaliser went begging.

In the afternoon the U14s put in a really commendable performance to win both games against the Indoor EN.NA runners-up, Futebol Benfica. With 4 players from the U12s, it took a while for the team to settle down into the new formation, but by the second period the defenders had the hang of playing the ball up the wings and a good passing combination put them 1-0 up at the interval. They then took control of the game to win 4-0, all goals from open play.

However, in the second game, just as with the U12s a week ago, fatigue and the heat took hold: Futebol Benfica finally got into their stride and Casuals were soon 1-3 down. But again they refused to be beaten, were tireless in defence and managed to score three goals in a row from open play in the last period to win 4-3.

To round off a busy weekend, the Ladies were at home to Sport Club for their second league match. Looking a little jaded from the previous day’s exertions, they were 0-1 down at the interval. Sport scored a second, but Casuals came back strongly to 1-2 and then equalised at 2-2. In a frenetic finish, neither side was able to find a winner, but this draw keeps the Casuals Ladies at the top of the league table.

The U18s played their first home league match yesterday against Juventude. They scored the opener from a penalty corner and added two more goals before the interval: the second of these came from a weaving run along the bye line and a stunning flick into the roof of the net from an acute angle.

Although the Casuals’ domination continued in the second half, they were only able to add one more goal from a flowing passing move. Their frustration was exemplified by a shot coming off the Juventude crossbar and the rebound coming back off the post, but 4-0 was still a good result.

The Men’s league fixture against Carris saw an exciting first half end 2-2: Casuals opened the scoring, only for Carris to equalise from the new own goal rule, when a strong centre into the circle found the edge of a defender’s stick. They scored again 2 minutes before the interval, but Casuals were able to level a minute later.

Ten minutes into the second half Carris took the lead from a penalty corner, only for Casuals to force the ball over from close range. However, despite some much improved play from the Men, Carris scored twice in the last 12 minutes to take the game 5-3.

In their two matches against Futebol Benfica, the U12s won the first game 5-1 with some good passing moves – all from open play. However, in the second game their inevitable tiredness meant they forgot the passing game and were soon 0-2 down at the interval. To their credit they fought back from 1-3 down to take the lead 4-3 a minute from the end (3 goals from open play, one short corner). But, with seconds to go, Futebol Benfica got the equalizer they probably deserved, to draw 4-4.

In the first of 3 matches against Cambridge University’s St Catherine’s College during the past week, the Men won an open game 8-4. The U18s followed this on Wednesday and Thursday with two very evenly matched games, winning 4-3 and 3-1.

Yesterday evening it was the Ladies turn to play a visiting U18 team from Gloucester, drawing 0-0.

In this afternoon’s league match, the Men hosted Sport Club. After going 0-2 down, Casuals pulled back a goal shortly before the interval. However, despite chances for both sides, Sport scored the only goal of an otherwise even second half, to win 3-1.