The second edition of the Curro Halala Cup generated excitement on Friday, the opening day of the national finals at HeronBridge College, with the defending champion, Northern Academy, and last year’s runner-up, Norkem Park High, both suffering defeat.
In Pool C, the defending champs, Northern Academy, began their campaign with a strong 4-1 victory over Waterstone College. However, they encountered a setback in their second outing, going down 0-2 to St Anne’s Technical High.
Northern Academy, however, remains in a solid position, in second place in Pool C, after bounding to a 6-0 victory over Curro Hazeldean, which left them on six points.
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St Anne’s, who stunned the defending champion, was also held to a goalless draw by the Gauteng Development League (GDL) team, Rosina Sedibane Modiba Sport School. In their third match, the Free State school edged out the champions of the Mancosa KwaZulu-Natal High Schools Football Association (KZNHFA) Coastal A-League, Glenwood, 1-0, to finish the day with seven points.
Rosina Sedibane Modiba Sports School made waves when they netted a goal just 15 seconds into their match against Glenwood, the fastest goal in the tournament’s history. They went on to win that game 5-2.
While they were beaten twice, Glenwood also picked up points with a 3-2 victory against Curro Hazeldean. Waterstone College won 3-1 against the same opposition.
With three wins from three matches, Virginia High School and Clapham High emerged as the frontrunners.
Norkem Park High, second in 2025, began their campaign with a 0-1 defeat to Durban High School (DHS) in Pool D. Norkem Park was also held to a 2-2 draw by Mondeor High, but they won their last match of the day, edging out The Vaal High School 4-3.
DHS also played to a goalless draw with Curro Nelspruit but subsequently lost 0-2 to Mondeor High.
Meridian Pinehurst claimed a 2-0 victory over The Vaal High and followed that with an impressive 6-0 win against Curro Nelspruit.
They played only twice but gained maximum points, scoring eight goals and not conceding one. They head into Saturday’s games at the top of Pool D.
In Pool A, Virginia High established an early lead by scoring three victories. Their fellow Free Staters, Navalsig High School, the winner of the Absa Wildeklawer Soccer Tournament earlier this season, is in second place, with seven points from two wins and a draw.
Navalsig opened their challenge with a commanding 3-0 victory over Curro Thatchfield on Friday morning. However, in their next match, they were held to a 1-1 draw by Camps Bay High. Navalsig finished their day’s assignments with a 3-1 win over Curro Soshanguve.
Virginia High began with a narrow 1-0 victory over Curro Soshanguve. They repeated that score in a win over Flora Park Comprehensive High School, and won their third match by a one-goal margin again, this time beating Camps Bay High 2-1.
In other Pool A matches, Flora Park and Camps Bay drew 1-1, while Curro Soshanguve rebounded with a 3-0 win over Curro Thatchfield.
Clapham High equaled Virginia’s flawless start in Pool B, also scoring three victories to end the day on nine points, five clear of Curro Century City and Grey College.
In their match against Christian Brothers’ College (CBC) Mount Edmund, Clapham claimed a narrow 1-0 victory. They also beat Barberton High 1-0, and repeated that result in their third win, against Meridian Cosmo City.
Grey College suffered a 0-1 defeat to Curro Century City in their first match. However, in their second game, the 2025 bronze medallists made a strong comeback with a 2-0 victory over Meridian Cosmo City. In their third outing, the Bloemfontein school picked up only one point from a goalless draw with Barberton High.
After their victory over Grey College, Curro Century City drew 1-1 with Barberton High. CBC Mount Edmund, meanwhile, continued the tale of low-scoring games with a 1-0 victory over Meridian Cosmo City.
RESULTS
Friday, 7 August
Pool A
Navalsig 3-0 Curro Thatchfield
Flora Park 1-1 Camps Bay
Virginia High 1-0 Curro Soshanguve
Navalsig 1-1 Camps Bay
Curro Soshanguve 3-0 Curro Thatchfield
Virginia High 1-0 Flora Park
Navalsig 3-1 Curro Soshanguve
Pool B
Curro Century City 1-0 Grey College
CBC Mount Edmund 1-0 Meridian Cosmo City
Clapham 1-0 Barberton High
Grey College 2-0 Meridian Cosmo City
Curro Century City 1-1 Barberton High
Clapham 1-0 CBC Mount Edmund
Grey College 0-0 Barberton High
Clapham High 1-0 Meridian Cosmo City
Pool C
Northern Academy 4-1 Waterstone College
Rosina Sedibane Modiba 0-0 St Anne’s
Glenwood 3-2 Curro Hazeldean
St Anne’s 2-0 Northern Academy
Waterstone College 3-1 Curro Hazeldean
Rosina Sedibane Modiba 5-2 Glenwood
Northern Academy 6-0 Curro Hazeldean
St Anne’s 1-0 Glenwood
Pool D
Norkem Park 2-2 Mondeor High
Meridina Pinehurst 2-0 Vaal High
DHS 0-0 Curro Nelspruit
Norkem Park 4-3 Vaal High
Mondeor High 2-0 DHS
Meridian Pinehurst 6-0 Curro Nelspruit
DHS 1-0 Norkem Park
