Ladies win the National Indoor Title

In their third match of the Indoor Finals this morning against Sport Club, the Ladies opened the scoring early on with a great goal from a narrow angle. Although a defensive slip allowed Sport to equalise after 15 minutes, Casuals re-established their lead a minute later. Their goalkeeper capped a brilliant performance with a spectacular save 4 minutes into the second half, and this was soon followed by a 3^rd goal from a flick into the roof of the net. Sport again reduced to 3-2, but Casuals nailed a 4-2 win with the conversion of a penalty stroke.

When Belenenses allowed a 5-3 lead against Sport Club to slip to a 5-5 draw, Casuals knew that a win against CAMIR in their last game would give them the title. However this knowledge seemed to inhibit their play: CAMIR scored first after only 2 minutes, and Casuals equalised shortly after from a well-worked open play goal, but the rest of the half was fairly edgy and closed with the scores still level at 1-1. At the start of the second half the Ladies looked in a different mindset, and they took the lead after 4 minutes from a penalty corner. Another penalty corner increased their lead to 3-1 and they slotted a fourth just inside the post to give them a 4-1 win and the title of Champions.

After coming close several times in recent years, this National Indoor title is just reward for the hard work and persistence of the squad and their coach. At the prize-giving ceremony, they were also awarded the prizes of “Player of the Tournament” – Ugné Chmeliauskaité, and “Best Goalkeeper” – Andreia Rebelo.

In the National Indoor Finals this afternoon, the Ladies got off to a good start,  beating Lousada 2-1 in their first game. They opened the scoring after 4 minutes and increased their lead mid-way into the second half. In a tight game, they had to keep their concentration and, although their opponents pulled back a goal 2 minutes from time, the Casuals had no problems holding out until the final hooter.

Their second match against last year’s champions Belenenses was a more open and pacy game, and full of twists and turns. A first strike by Belenenses in the 2nd minute did not upset the Casuals’ confidence,and a few minutes later they were level. A further goal from Belenenses was again cancelled out by an equaliser and the first half ended 2-2, with the Casuals unlucky to twice hit the woodwork. After several amazing saves by both keepers and a stop on the line by a Belenenses defender at a penalty corner, the Casuals finally took the the lead from a very intelligent break with less than 10 minutes left. When the same defender caught the ball as it was headed for the roof of the net, it looked like the ensuing penalty could close out the game: but the Casuals’ misfortune continued when the flick hit the post for the third time in the game. With the midfield tiring towards the end of a very physical game, Belenenses were able to apply pressure to find the equaliser with just 2 minutes left. The Casuals have made an excellent start to these Finals and, with 2 more matches on Sunday (at 9.30 and 14.10), anything is still possible.

The U-14s won both their games today, making it 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses to take the regional phase against Futebol Benfica.

With only 5 players, 2 of whom were on loan from the U-12s, the Casuals took a while to get used to each other but still went into the interval with a 3-0 lead, all from open play. Futebol Benfica fought back, bringing on their U-16 players, but Casuals defended well, winning 3-1.

In the 2^nd game the Casuals took a 2-0 lead in the 2^nd period, converting 2 short corners.  A change of positions saw a third goal from open play before the interval and a further 2 goals after the interval; 5-0 the final score.

See 2nd tournament photos here

Photos 3rd tournament soon

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.