The hosts, Kearsney College, put together a string of strong performances to clinch third place in the second edition of the Kearsney Soccer Tournament on Sunday, but they were powerless to stop the impressive champions, Pinetown Boys’ High, from surging to the title.
The event, which also included Girls’ High School and Boys’ Primary School competitions was a resounding success. The fields were liberally lined with supporters and spectators, with the Boys’ Primary School final, between Merchiston Prep and Highbury Prep, seeing the beautiful Silcock Field surrounded on all sides.
Merchiston edged out Highbury 2-1 to claim that title, while St Mary’s DSG claimed the girls’ honours with a 2-1 win from the penalty spot, after they had shared a 2-2 draw with Kloof High.
It felt like a step forward from the inaugural Kearsney Soccer Tournament, held in 2023, and it was the latest successful Kearsney-hosted event to include girls’ high school and boys’ primary school teams. Kearsney also includes primary schools in the Easter Rugby Festival, the Stayers’ Basketball Tournament and the Hockey Fives. Girls’ high schools also participate in the hockey tournament.
In their opening match, on Friday, Kearsney played to a 1-1 draw with Paul Roos Gimnasium. Two days later, the teams again drew 1-1, this time in the playoff for third and fourth. The hosts then won the tie 3-2 from the spot.
Besides the third-place finish, one of the other highlights of Kearsney’s campaign was their 2-1 win over Durban High School (DHS) in the playoffs. The Horseflies were the defending champions, so it was a significant scalp for the home team.
However, when Kearsney met Pinetown in the semi-finals, Pinetown powered their way to a 3-0 victory.
The local side, from just down the road, enjoyed an exceptional tournament, winning all of their games without conceding a single goal. They played with impressive composure, excellent structure and good ball movement, and they worked hard and effectively on defence to turn over possession.
In the final, they took on another local side, Siyajabula, and came away with a hard-fought 1-0 victory.
In 2023, the DHS campaign began with a 6-0 hammering from TuksSport High School. The Durban boys are made of stern stuff, however, and they fought their way back, winning a number of must-win contests to make it through to the final where they shocked Tuks 1-0 to grab the silverware.
This time around, School started off far better, winning their opening two games. A 2-1 defeat of Gqeberha’s Urban Academy was an excellent result against a good team. Their subsequent 1-0 victory over Curro Hazeldean was a trifle frustrating, because DHS dominated the contest, but Curro proved themselves to be a gritty team in their other matches.
In their final pool game, Sutherland edged out DHS 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller. Nonetheless, DHS finished top of their pool. In their first playoff game, however, they went down to Kearsney.
That left them with a rematch against Sutherland. This time, it was much tighter, and the result also went the other way, with DHS claiming a 1-0 victory.
Clifton College had an interesting tournament; goals were never short in their five matches, with 23 being scored between them and their opposition.
They opened with a 3-4 loss to Lebone II College. On reflection, they’ll look back on that game as a missed opportunity. If they had won it – and based on the results that followed for both sides, they really should have – they would have put themselves into the upper tier of the playoffs.
They claimed a 3-2 victory over Ashton International in their next match and then scored one of the goals of the tournament to go ahead 1-0 on their way to a 2-1 victory over the eventual runners-up, Siyajabula, who had won their first two games.
That result left three teams on six points – Siyajabula, Lebone II College and Clifton – but Clifton missed out on a top two finish in the pool on goal difference.
In their first playoff match, the Durban boys produced one of the performances of the tournament, outplaying Tuks 4-0. Yes, Tuks were not at their best during the event, but nobody else managed them quite like Clifton did.
In their last outing, Maqhutshana 1’s quick, short passing game proved to be the right recipe to undo the Clifton defence and the school from KwaMakhutha, south of Durban, won 3-1.
Northwood fell to the eventual champions, Pinetown, in their opener, going down 2-0, but they won by that same scoreline in their second outing against TuksSport High School.
A 2-2 draw with a good Maqhutshana 1 team secured the Knights second place in their pool. However, their hopes of progressing through the playoffs were stopped by Siyajabula in their next outing, with Siyajabula recording a 2-0 victory.
Credit to Northwood, they saved their best for last, overwhelming Lebone II College 6-0.
For more Kearsney Soccer Tournament highlights and more, please visit the Pinnacle Schools YouTube Channel.
RESULTS
Boys’ High School Final
Pinetown Boys’ High 1-0 Siyajabula High School
3rd/4th
Kearsney College (3) 1-1 (2) Paul Roos Gimnasium
Plate Final
Urban Academy (3) 1-1 (2) Maqhutshana 2
Girls’ High School Final
St Mary’s DGS (2) 2-2 (1) Kloof High
Primary School Boys’ Final
Merchiston Prep 2-1 Highbury Prep A
Kearsney College Results
Kearsney 1-1 Paul Roos
Kearsney 3-1 Maqhutshana 2
Kearsney 4-0 Thomas More
Kearsney 2-1 DHS
Kearsney 0-3 Pinetown
Kearsney (3) 1-1 (2) Paul Roos
DHS Results
DHS 2-1 Urban Academy
DHS 1-0 Curro Hazeldean
DHS 3-4 Sutherland
DHS 1-2 Kearsney College
DHS 1-0 Sutherland
Clifton College Results
Clifton 3-4 Lebone II College
Clifton 3-2 Ashton
Clifton 2-1 Siyajabula
Clifton 4-0 Tuks
Clifton 1-3 Maqhutshana 1
Northwood School Results
Northwood 0-2 Pinetown
Northwood 2-0 Tuks
Northwood 2-2 Maqhutshana 1
Northwood 0-2 Siyajabula
Northwood 6-0 Lebone II College
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