24 August 2026
The second and final day of the Kearsney Hockey Fives in Botha’s Hill produced plenty of redemption on Saturday, with several teams turning the tables on opponents who had beaten them earlier in the tournament.
Among them were the two champions, with Durban High School (DHS) retaining the boys’ title and Our Lady of Fatima claiming the girls’ crown.
DHS had suffered a narrow 4-5 defeat to Hilton College when the teams first met on Friday, but there was no repeat in the final as the Horseflies prevailed 5-3 over the 2024 winners.
Our Lady of Fatima also overturned an earlier result, edging out the defending champion, St Mary’s DSG (Kloof) 1-0 in the girls’ final after losing 0-2 to the same opponents earlier in the competition.
The victory saw DHS successfully defend the title, while Our Lady of Fatima became the fourth different girls’ winner in the four years that the competition has been staged.
St Mary’s entered the final as the only unbeaten side across either competition, but that perfect record disappeared in the one match that mattered most. By the end of the tournament, every team had suffered at least one defeat.
Hilton had been flawless on the opening day, but Saturday proved considerably tougher. They twice ended up on the losing side, also going down to Glenwood High, who claimed a convincing 6-3 victory in their clash.
Kearsney also experienced the highs and lows of facing the same opponent twice. In the space of three hours, they lost 3-4 to Westville Boys’ High, then beat Westville 4-3 in the third-place playoff.
Glenwood came on strongly on day two and concluded it by beating Michaelhouse 5-3 to finish fifth.
In the girls’ competition, Curro Hillcrest secured third place, their best-ever finish at the Kearsney Hockey Fives.
They demonstrated their fighting qualities on Saturday, first edging out Ashton International College (Ballito) 4-3 before defeating the 2024 champion, Danville Park Girls’ High, 4-2 in the playoff for third.
Ashton finished fifth after beating Maris Stella 4-2.
The final day underlined one of the attractions of the Hockey Fives format: there was rarely room for past results to count for much. Teams were repeatedly given another opportunity against familiar opponents, and several took it with both hands.
RESULTS
Boys
Kearsney 6-1 Glenwood
Hilton 4-1 Kearsney
Kearsney 1-0 Michaelhouse
Glenwood 6-0 Ashton
DHS 6-1 Westville
Hilton 3-1 Ashton
Hilton 5-4 DHS
HDS 7-1 Glenwood
Kearsney 3-0 Ashton
Hilton 3-1 Michaelhouse
DHS 4-1 Michaelhouse
Glenwood 6-3 Michaelhouse
Westville 7-2 Ashton
Hilton 5-1 Westville
Westville 6-3 Glenwood
DHS 3-2 Kearsney
Glenwood 6-3 Hilton
DHS 9-0 Ashton
Westville 3-2 Kearsney
Michaelhouse 3-1 Ashton
Westville 5-3 Michaelhouse
Westville 3-2 Kearsney
Playoffs
7th – Ashton
5th/6th – Glenwood 5-3 Michaelhouse
3rd/4th – Kearsney 4-3 Westville
1st/2nd – DHS 5-3 Hilton College
Girls
Danville (8) 3-3 (7) Curro Hillcrest
St Mary’s 11-1 Maris Stella
Danville 3-2 Ashton
Danville 4-3 Maris Stella
Curro Hillcrest 2-1 Maris Stella
Our Lady of Fatima 3-1 Danville
St Mary’s 4-1 Ashton
St Mary’s 7-1 Curro Hillcrest
Our Lady of Fatima 3-1 Ashton
Our Lady of Fatima 5-1 Curro Hillcrest
Ashton 3-2 Maris Stella
St Mary’s 2-0 Our Lady of Fatima
St Mary’s 10-3 Danville
Curro Hillcrest 4-3 Ashton
Our Lady of Fatima 1-1 Maris Stella
Playoffs
5th/6th – Ashton 4-2 Maris Stella
3rd/4th – Curro Hillcrest 4-2 Danville
1st/2nd – Our Lady of Fatima 1-0 St Mary’s DSG