CLERICUS CUP:Holy committed team knocked out despite Prior convictions in the Vatican's own soccer tournament

"I THINK we have the measure of them now," says Fr Prior, the Irishman Brian O'Sullivan.

"We" are the Istituto Patristico Augustinianum and "they" are the Seminariao Romano Maggiore. In other words, this is the Augustinians v Rome Seminary.

The Clericus Cup, the Vatican's own tournament featuring teams from the pontifical colleges, is in its second season. The seventh and final day of the round-robin section has thrown up a "do or die" game for both teams.

The Augustinians must win; the canny Seminario Maggiore need only a draw to progress.

It is Sunday, appropriately, and we are at the Oratorio San Pietro, a church-run sports centre just up the road from the Vatican. Your correspondent gets a special permit to sit on the Augustinians' bench, even exchanging high fives with the subs.

Fr Brian is an old friend and doubtless hopes another Irishman on the bench will bring a slice of good luck. Alas, his hopes are misplaced, but more of that anon.

Fr Augustine, our Nigerian manager, gets his men out for a warm-up. Wearing an all-black strip with sponsors' logo, the "team" look the real deal. For good measure, and in the best traditions of the modern game, they are a cosmopolitan bunch: players from Botswana, Colombia, Kenya, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru and Slovakia.

The match begins well. Our Mexican number nine, Benjamin, is distinctly handy. Our other Mexican wears Edgar Davids glasses and is running the defence with splendid assurance.

Fr Brian wants the long ball over their defence but gets annoyed when our front men are repeatedly caught in the Romans' offside trap. At half-time, umbrella in hand, he is out on the pitch for the team talk - and he's not even the manager.

Meanwhile, our 31-year-old "manager" merits a mention. Fr Augustine earned some small notoriety by getting himself sent from the sideline for contesting the referee's call in a recent game.

Discipline is tough in the Clericus Cup - no sideline shouting or swearing, for instance. But it is hard to imagine Fr Augustine seeing red, since just a couple of hours earlier he was on the altar of the chapel of Santa Monica, just off St Peter's Square, concelebrating Mass.

Ironically, the most violent moment of the day came, not on the pitch, but in church during Mass when two elderly faithful squabbled over a place in the pew. No yellow cards were produced but other massgoers turned on them and told them to "shut up".

For Fr Augustine, a major problem is to make up a team. Often players are on parish duties. And priests are regularly "loaned out" to other dioceses.

Last season the Augustinians played one entire match with just 10 men - but still won 1-0.

Today, however, all seems well. We are here on time, the sun is shining and there are even eight spectators - all supporting the other lot, mind you.

Fr Brian is getting worried, though, that the good start has not produced a goal. Then comes a turning point: the canny Romans call for a "time out".

Yep, the Clericus Cup has rules of its own. (Games last 60, not 90, minutes; drawn games go to a penalty shoot-out; if you win in normal time, you get three points; if you win in a shoot-out, you get two points; if you lose in a shoot-out you still get a point.)

Seminario Romano Maggiore make good use of their time out, and after that, nothing is quite the same; our early dominance fades.

In the end, the canny Romans do a classic Italian job, weathering the storm and taking their chances to win 2-0.

So, what does this all mean, Vatican football? Is the beautiful game now being used to spread the word of God?

"No, no," laughs Fr Kevin Lixey, of the "Church and Sport" section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. "The idea was much more that it would help seminarians in their future work as priests, work particularly with kids, if they were involved in a tournament like this".

Maybe it will help the seminarians and priests too, and then of course there always has been a strong tradition of "muscular Christianity".

As we troop out after our game and head back down the hill to St Peter's, Fr Brian meets up with Fr Bob, who gives us the good news that all is not lost. The Augustinian basketball team has won its game. Yep, there is a now Clericus Cup for basketball teams too. Sport is clearly a growth industry in the Holy See.