The Men travelled to Lousada for their last league game against Juventude with exactly the same squad that played the previous week, and perhaps it was this consistency that showed in their improved performance. Although they kept possession for large parts of the opening quarter of an hour, they only opened the scoring on 20 minutes when Vitor Rosa’s injection at a penalty corner got a clean stop from Tommy Hilt and left Philipp Wenzel to put his drag-flick on target. Ten minutes later Diogo Brito put them 2-0 up, when he spun in a crowded area and smashed the ball into the roof of the net.

Juventude came out after the break in a determined mood: within 10 minutes they pulled back a goal with a beautifully worked penalty corner that gave João Miguel Freitas in goal absolutely no chance. This galvanised the home team into a more attacking mood, and the back 4 of Temwa Smit, Andrew Baird, Joe Kodde and Michael Kodde had to be vigilant to keep out some promising moves.

The Casuals midfield of André Teixeira, Ruben Campos, Lorenzo Neuland and Hugo Jesus worked hard to regain the initiative, and 10 mins later Philipp drew the keeper and passed square for Lorenzo to make it 3-1. João Ralha then came close with an attempted tip-in, but it was Philipp who collected a pass just inside the circle, dragged the ball to his forehand and drove it low inside the right post for 4-1. With 5 minutes to go a Casuals shot hit a defender’s foot, and Joe slotted the penalty stroke safely to make the final score 5-1.

Tony Pringsheim

Photo: Paulo Moreira / More photos

The Men travelled to Porto and started their game against Viso in steady drizzle but, with 7 minutes gone, Philipp Wenzel tucked away a good square ball from the right to put them ahead. He could have made it 2-0 shortly after, but his snapshot went just wide. Viso also went close several times, including being frustrated by Joe Kodde’s amazing clearance off the goal-line at a short corner. But, with Lorenzo Neuland, Ruben Campos and Vitor Rosa working tirelessly in the midfield, Casuals were fully deserving of their 1-0 halftime lead.

4 mins after the restart, a fast break sent Lorenzo through alone – the keeper took him out mercilessly, and Joe calmly put away the ensuing penalty stroke for a 2-0 lead. Viso then put the visitors under fierce pressure: João Miguel Freitas had to make some classy saves, including a great stick save low to his right, and the defensive setup of Temwa Smit, Andrew Baird, Michael Kodde and the herculean Joe kept their heads and held firm.

But with 15 minutes to go, Viso finally pulled a goal back from a delicate tip-in. This could have rattled Casuals, but they showed a determination not to defend deep: with 6 mins left, an attacking move involving João Ralha and Philipp found Diogo Brito alone in the circle to beat the keeper with a strong flick for an excellent 3-1 win.

Tony Pringsheim

Despite losing 2-8 in today’s difficult game against the current league leaders, Casuals’ Men showed an improvement in their ability to cope with a strong attacking team. After setting up a 2-0 lead after a quarter of an hour, Carris added a 3^rd from close range. Minutes later, Nicolas Wenzel forced his way past several defenders to pull a goal back with a great strike just inside the left post. However, Casuals then made crucial errors to allow their opponents to extend their lead to 6-1 in the last 5 minutes of the first half.

The second half saw a steely performance from the Casuals defence, with the back four of Vitor Rosa, Andrew Baird, Joe and Michael Kodde living dangerously, but keeping Carris at bay. The only 2 goals they conceded were penalty corners, while at the other end Casuals also scored from a penalty corner, when Nicolas’ pass found João Ralha at the far post for a tip-in.

Tony Pringsheim

The Men’s first match against Sport Club was always going to be crucial to Sunday’s play-offs, so it was galling to be beaten by a dubious penalty. A tight first half ended without either side able to score, but 4 minutes in, Philipp Wenzel took the ball off a defender, rounded the keeper and squared the ball for João Miguel Freitas to open the scoring. Within 10 minutes Sport had taken a 2-1 lead from two penalty corners, but a great pass from Nicolas Wenzel let in his brother Philipp to make it 2-2. On balance a draw would have been a fair result but, with 50 seconds to go, Sport converted a frankly erroneous penalty stroke for a 3-2 win. In their evening match Casuals took on a strong Carris team, and were 0-7 down at the interval. Although they were always going to struggle against the eventual National Champions, a much closer second half saw them score 3 goals through João Ralha, João Miguel and Nicolas with a lovely lob over the keeper.

The 9am start on the Sunday for their last group match against Juventude did not seem to suit the Casuals, and they ended the first half 2-3 down, despite Miguel Ralha scoring twice to add to his impressive midfield work. Three minutes after the break, Philipp intercepted just inside the opposition half to take the ball past the last defender and the keeper for a tremendous equaliser. Miguel scored from a penalty corner for the Casuals to take the lead but, when a nasty head injury sidelined João Miguel, the team could have lost their focus: instead, 2 more goals from Miguel and 1 from Hugo Jesus sealed a great 7-4 win.

The play-off game against Lamas was a very tight and evenly contested match. At the interval only 2 penalty corner conversions by Lamas separated the teams. After half an hour Joe Kodde, whose defending throughout the weekend had been tremendous, finally pulled one back with a clever tip-in at a penalty corner. But, in pushing for the equaliser, Casuals left themselves open to the 3^rd Lamas goal which sealed a 1-3 defeat. Their final placing of 6^th out of 8 does perhaps not do justice to the progress in their indoor game that this young Men’s team has shown over the last 2 weekends under João Miguel’s leadership.

Tony Pringsheim

At the Intermediate Indoor Tournament this weekend, the Men showed some serious improvement in their level of play. They began on Saturday with a 7-3 win against Futebol Benfica. 2-3 down at the break despite two goals from Miguel Ralha, they stormed back with 4 goals including a penalty corner from Philipp Wenzel and another from Miguel. In the evening they suffered their only defeat against União de Lamas, but the final 2-5 score line belied a very tight game.

Sunday saw them beat Juventude 7-3. With João Miguel Freitas and Joe Kodde switching to man marking in defence, their opponents found little space to attack in. But even so, they managed to wipe out an early 2-0 Casuals lead to reach the break all square at 2-2. In the second half Casuals again pulled away, scoring 5 more goals for a strong win. In the evening’s play-off game, they exacted revenge against Lamas with an excellent 7-5 victory. Next weekend they travel to Espinho for the Indoor Finals.

Tony Pringsheim