U-18s win their 1st National Indoor Title

The U18s got their National Finals off to a great start, when they beat Lousada (last year’s champions) in their opening match yesterday. 0-1 down at the interval, they were irrepressible in the second half, coming back to win 5-1. Against a weaker Viso team in the afternoon, they had no problems winning 9-1.

But in this morning’s first match, Juventude proved a resilient and fairly physical opponent. A tight match saw the scores level at 1-1 at half time, but after the break Casuals accelerated into a 4-1 lead. Although Juventude (finally) had a player carded for repeated pushing, they managed to pull back a goal in the last minute to leave the final score 4-2 to the Casuals.

The final game to decide 1^st and 2^nd places between Casuals and CAMIR proved a thrilling cliffhanger: both teams were unbeaten, with CAMIR’s better goal difference giving them the advantage of only needing a draw. Each team scored from a short corner, but CAMIR took a 2-1 lead shortly before the interval. Although the Casuals were showing signs of tiredness from their morning game, they came out after the break in determined mood and equalised after only 20 seconds. They finally took a 3-2 lead but were pegged back to 3-3 five minutes from time, and it looked like CAMIR had done enough. But, with 2 minutes left on the clock, the Casuals forced a penalty corner which they converted and then hung on for a 4-3 win and the Lisbon Casuals’ first ever National Indoor title.

At the prize-giving ceremony, they were also awarded the prizes of “Player of the Tournament” – Miguel Ralha, and “Best Goalkeeper” – André Rosa.

This morning the U-12s played their first game against Futebol Benfica this season; Casuals started with only 4 players and were soon 0-2 down. However, they fought back to equalize 2-2 by the interval and then got into their stride in the 2nd half to score 4 more, ending clear winners by 6-3. The second game was an easy win against GD Carris, 11-1, to leave the U-12s undefeated going into the EN.NA.

For the Ladies’ last Indoor Tournament before the Nationals the only objective was to reach the final, and they duly won the first game against Belenenses 4-2. Now the real game was up to the youngest Casuals Ladies, because for the first time they played the whole match and it was after all the final of an indoor tournament! The young under-18 players kept the score tied at 1-1 until almost the end of the first half but, after their opponents’ second goal, the youngsters got a little lost and let in two more goals, reaching the interval 1-4 down. After a well deserved rest, they eventually conceded two more goals: but their goalie put in an outstanding performance, saving many shots and rebounds. The coaching team is very proud, despite the final 1-6 result – once again we showed great character. The Ladies would also like to congratulate the U18s for their fantastic results and for bringing home the Casuals’ first indoor National Title.

The U18s travelled to Porto today for the final indoor Tournament before next weekend’s National Finals. The semi final against CAMIR saw the teams level at 2-2 after 17 minutes, but Casuals opened up a two goal lead before the break. They stretched this to 6-2, before a further exchange of goals gave them a 7-4 win.

In the final against Juventude, the Casuals played some very controlled hockey to gradually establish a 4-0 half time lead. Despite their opponents scoring twice in the second half, Casuals continued their ascendancy to win the game and the Tournament 8-2.

The U14s played their first indoor Tournament: they narrowly lost their first game to Futebol Benfica A 1-2, but then won their second game against Futebol Benfica B 3-0.

see photos here

In their last two indoor league matches, the Men began with a draw against Futebol Benfica yesterday evening.  After pulling back to 2-3 right on halftime, the Casuals came back strongly in the second half with 2 quick goals to take a 4-3 lead. But their opponents equalised, to make the final score 4-4.

The team looked a little jaded at the beginning of this afternoon’s game against Carris and were 0-3 down after 5 minutes. Despite settling down, they were still 3-6 down at half time, but then fought back after the break with 2 goals. With chances for both sides, including a Casuals shot coming back off the post and a penalty corner to them in the last minute, Carris hung on for a 6-5 win. But, winning both the second halves of their matches, this young team has shown a marked improvement over the last month.

In the other Casuals fixture this afternoon, the Veterans drew their outdoor match against Belenenses 1-1.

The U18s took 2^nd place in the inaugural quadrangular ‘International Winter Series Trophy’ organized by Move Sports, the other three teams being visiting schools from the UK – Churcher’s College, Marlborough College and St Edward’s Oxford.

In yesterday evening’s shortened round robin games, the Casuals recorded 3 draws and this paired them against St Edward’s in the first semi final this morning. After the Casuals went ahead 2-0, the visitors pulled back a goal before half time, and the tightness of the game was reflected in the fact that all 3 goals came from penalty corners. Although the second half was fiercely contested and St Edward’s in particular had several good chances, there were no further goals and the Casuals went through with a 2-1 win.

Churcher’s came from behind to win the other semi final, and the 3^rd place play-off went to Marlborough after a penalty shoot-out. This set the stage for a thrilling final, with both teams playing some high level hockey and alternately putting their opponents under spells of prolonged pressure. With 2 minutes left on the clock and it looking like this match might also go to penalties, Churcher’s scored the only goal to win 1-0.

The whole Tournament was played in a highly competitive but very friendly atmosphere, and congratulations must go to Move Sports for their excellent organization of this event, which was rounded off in the evening with a prize-giving dinner for all the teams.

This afternoon the Ladies won the latest indoor Tournament. With an appreciable lead in the league table, it was the turn of some of the younger players to take to the boards. A team averaging 17 years old played the first half of each of the two games and, against all expectations, they only conceded 3 goals in each game against Sport (outdoor national champions 2012) and Lousada (indoor runners-up 2012).

The second halves of the games were played by the more experienced indoor players in the squad and the results speak for themselves: the Ladies turned a 1-3 deficit into a 4-3 win against Sport in the first game, and came from 0-3 down to win the final against Lousada 4-3. Casuals continues to be the team that scores more than 4 goals a game, leading the top scorer table with two players in 1^st (16 goals) and 2^nd place (13 goals).