The Men travelled to Lousada today for their second league fixture. Against strong opponents, the game got off to a bizarre start: after 5 minutes the score was level at 1-1, from two own goals. After 10 minutes, Lousada had pulled 2-1 ahead, only for Casuals to level again with a great reverse stick shot from the left side of the circle. Despite several chances on either side, there were no further goals before the break.

Lousada started the second half strongly and, after breaking the deadlock with a fierce penalty corner, they stretched their lead to 5-2 on 53 minutes. But it is a sign of this young Casuals team that they then took the game to their opponents: they finally converted one of their penalty corners and were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty stroke for a fairly blatant foul on a forward about to shoot with the keeper stranded. Even a diving shot as the final hooter sounded was unable to narrow down the final 3-5 score line, but there were many promising signs in this display against last year’s champions.