The Kearsney Soccer Tournament produced a gripping weekend of football at Botha’s Hill, as Pinetown Boys’ High and St Mary’s DSG, Kloof, retained their titles, while Ashton Ballito completed a dream run to claim the primary school crown.
For Pinetown, the road to glory wasn’t without its twists. Having drawn 0-0 with Gqebera’s Urban Academy during the group stages, they met the same team for the title, a side that hadn’t conceded a goal all tournament long.
Pinetown, especially on the second day of competition, had found their scoring boots, slotting 18 goals without reply, but Urban Academy was a far tougher challenge. They had, for example, beaten Glenwood High 3-0, while Pinetown surrendered only one goal and it came against the Green Machine in a 2-1 win.
The final was a chess match in cold and wet conditions. Both defences, disciplined and dogged, refused to crack, and when regulation time finished goalless it was off to the penalty sport for a shootout.
Only weeks ago, Pinetown had claimed the Kloof High Football Tournament via a shootout win over the Absa Wildeklawer champions Virginia High, and when the pressure was on once more, they held their nerve to win 3-1 from the spot.
Durban High School (DHS), the inaugural Kearsney champions in 2023, produced one of the matches of the day to edge out the hosts, Kearsney College, 3-2 in the third-place playoff.
It wasn’t plain sailing for School, who went down 1-4 to 2024 runners-up, Siyajabula, in a Group D clash but then beat Ashton Ballito and Curro Hazeldean to advance to the quarterfinals. That big setback against Siyajabula stirred memories of 2023 when DHS was thumped 6-0 by TuksSport High in their opening game but then beat the same opponents in the final.
Kearsney, meanwhile, drew goalless with Queensburgh High but beat Grace College 4-0 and Sutherland 1-0 in a must-win match to reach the quarterfinals. There, they ousted Siyajabula, last year’s beaten finalists, in a penalty shootout.
That same 3-2 scoreline settled the fifth-place clash, with Siyajabula outlasting Queensburgh High. In the playoff for seventh, Maqhutshana A fought off Clifton College to win 2-1 to end seventh.
Clifton topped Group A on goal difference over Maqhutshana, beating Maqhutshana B 5-2 and Trinityhouse Rand Park Ridge 4-0 in their other pool fixtures. They were, though, well beaten by Urban Academy in the quarterfinals, going down 0-4.
Glenwood had the misfortune of drawing both Pinetown Boys’ High and Urban Academy in Group C. After losses to the eventual finalists, their chances of reaching the quarterfinals were done. They beat Curro Somerset West 3-0 in their other group match and then did the best they could do from there, which was to win the Plate.
On their way to claiming the silverware, Glenwood outplayed Trinityhouse 5-0 in the quarters and then cruised to a 3-0 win over Sutherland. Up against Curro Somerset West once more in the final, they romped to a 5-1 win.
In the girls’ competition, history repeated itself as St Mary’s DSG, Kloof, once again got the better of Durban Girls’ High by a solitary goal, just as they had in the group stages. That win sealed back-to-back titles for Saints.
Danville Park Girls’ High secured third with a 3-1 victory over Curro Hazeldean, while Ashton Ballito powered past Trinityhouse Rand Park Ridge 3-0 in the Plate final.
Ashton Ballito wasn’t done. In the primary schools’ tournament, they delivered a flawless six-from-six performance to lift the title. Their group stage included emphatic 3-0 wins over defending champions Merchiston Prep (3-0) and Winston Park Primary before they scored a thrilling 4-3 victory over Westville Senior Primary.
They marched past John Wesley 4-0 in the quarterfinals, blanked Pelham 2-0 in the semis, and then edged out Hillcrest Primary 2-1 to complete a perfect campaign.
Pelham, meanwhile, salvaged third place with a 1-0 win over their Pietermaritzburg rivals, Merchiston Prep.
Awards
Pinetown’s Khulekani Nxumalo was named the Player of the Tournament. He was joined in the High School Team of the Tournament by his teammates Bandile Nkomo, Sgcino Memela, and Awanda Xaba. Urban Academy supplied Qhamani Gubevu, Tashreeq Rademeyer, and Oyisa Ngeni. The rest of the lineup included Jack Hilton (Curro Somerset West), Ndalo Khumalo (DHS), Mphathu Sibisi (Siyajabula), and PK Lethola (Kearsney College).
SA u17 hockey player Jamie De Silva was named the Player of the Tournament in the girls’ competition. She and her St Mary’s DSG teammates Lunathi Mdletshe and Farah Grove were named in the Team of the Tournament. The runners-up, Durban Girls’ High, had Ndalo Nxele and Liyanda Memani chosen. Ashton had Kitari van Straaten and Nonkosi Xaba selected, while Danville Park had Owani Msani and Caprice Solomon included. The team was completed by Mpho Pule (Curro Hazeldean) and Sienna McAlpine (Trinityhouse Rand Park Ridge).
The Primary School Player of the Tournament honour went to Ashton’s Rhys Fenton. He and Jordan Wright represented Ashton in the Team of the Tournament. Hillcrest Primary, though, had three players included: Cade van Eedem, Donald Radebe, and Justin de Aleut. Merchiston supplied Auden Pay and Khanya Fynn, Highbury’s contribution was Ibanathi Simelane and Samuel Praschma, while Pelham’s Imana Nzimande and Leandro Goncalves, of Westville Senior Primary, cracked the nod, too.
Meondo Holdings sponsored the tournament, with further support coming from Chemlog and BRS International.
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