May 16 – Vets v Casa Pia Vets

An impressive, at least in quantity, parliament of Vets turned out on Saturday to play Casa Pia. Before the match a small presentation of some hockey balls was made to Casa Pia which were gratefully received. The heat made for a sluggish start to the game and the Vets went one nil down after one of Kai Wenzel’s feet came between the ball and the goal, leading to a successful Casa Pia penalty flick. Several opportunities were created and missed by the Casuals but eventually Cat Ward managed to equalise the scoreline, flicking a rebound ball over the keeper, followed by a sweet strike from Steve Fernandes to put the Vets in the lead.

In the second half, with a little more shade, the Vets were able to take a bit more control of the game although umpteen chances went begging and only one of Herman Green’s many shots found its way over the goal-line, mistakes he made up for at the bar post-match. Some passionate play was calmly contained by the unruffleable umpires Joe Kodde and Ray Borrow. Casa Pia played with good spirit on and off the pitch. Final result 3-1.

Cat Ward

May 9 – Men end season with win

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

May 2/3 – U18 Finals

The U18’s went to the Finals knowing we had a mountain to climb, as we were missing three of our players, one of which was our Goal-Keeper.

We won our first game 8-0 against Casa Pia, a team we know very well as we played them many times throughout the season.

We lost our second game of the day 5-0 against AD Lousada, but demonstrated some superb defending from Tommy as kicking-back & Bernardo as full back, both making fantastic saves. The man of the match was Diogo Brito, who gave all he had to give and played his best hockey seen to date.

The next day we played against Juventude HC and lost 6-1. For this game Thomas Machado went into the goal as Goal-Keeper for the first time in his life and actually managed to make several saves. In this match Francisco Meirinhos created many attacking opportunities up the right wing which resulted in our only goal of the match.

Our last match to decide the 3rd and 4th places was once again against Casa Pia. But after a very physically demanding weekend and going down another player, we lost 7-1 to finish in 4th place.

Congratulations to Philipp Wenzel for being voted Best Player of the tournament and being Top Scorer of the season.

Joe Kodde

May 2 & 3 U13 Outdoor Finals.

A relatively inexperienced Casuals U13 team had a fantastic Outdoor Final, to come fourth, a result which belied their improvement in every game, with a memorable win in the last game against GD Viso. Viso opened the scoring but Captain Martim (of the Lima clan) soon replied with his first of three and Sebastian Baird scored the fourth, all from open play with almost every move started up the right wing by lightning fast Maarten Green (we hope you train more hockey and less football next season!). With revelations Margot and Ana putting up a sterling defence in front of novice goalie Manuel, Viso did not manage to get through to the Casuals goal again.

Other results:- 1-4 vs. eventual winners Casa Pia; 1-8 vs. AD Lousada, 1-6 vs. AA Espinho. Scorers: Martim, Sebastian and Pedro Leitão, one goal each.

Many thanks to Hugo Jesus for coaching the team during the two days and congratulations to Sebastian Baird being selected for the 2015 U13 Outdoor Dream Team.”

James Harrison

April 26 – Men beat Viso

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.