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 3rd 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.