The much-anticipated Kloof High School National Football Tournament, which features some of the top schoolboy football teams from around South Africa, kicked off on Friday. The action continues through the weekend, until Monday, 29 June.
A new champion will be crowned because last year’s winner, Pinetown Boys’ High, is not defending the title this year.
Catch the Kloof High School National Football action LIVE on SuperSport Schools
Northwood leads Group A after day one
After Friday’s matches, Northwood is top of Group A after securing back-to-back victories. They face tough competition from Virginia High, the 2025 runner-up. They’ll face off on Saturday with first place in the group up for grabs.
The Knights opened their challenge by overrunning Ashton International College Ballito 7-0. They followed that with a 1-0 win over a familiar foe, Hillcrest High.
Virginia High overwhelmed Ashton Ballito, winning 15-1. However, in a surprising turn of events, Virginia, who placed second in 2025 and third in 2024, was held to a goalless draw by Hillcrest High in their second match.
That result enabled Northwood to move into the Group A lead after the first day, with six points, two clear of the Free Staters. Hillcrest is in third place with one point, while Ashton Ballito props up the standings.
Virginia’s South African junior national team player, Oagenge Lebesane, is the group’s top goal scorer, with four to his name from their big win over Ashton Ballito. In that same match, both Amohelang Twala and Lehlohonolo Ntjana netted hat-tricks.
Dimitri Manganas, from Northwood, also scored three times on Friday, while his teammate, Rhys Millar, struck twice, which Virginia High’s Tshepo Kasumba matched.
Nqabakazulu, 2024 champion, takes charge of Group B
Fewer goals were scored in Group B than in Group A. However, the 2024 champion, Nqbakazulu Comprehensive High School, kicked off their campaign with two tight victories.
In their opening match, Nqabakazulu scraped a narrow 1-0 victory over Amanzimtoti High (Toti), followed by a 2-1 win over Brettonwood in their second game.
Sarel Cilliers is in second place in the group, on four points, after beating Toti 2-1 and drawing 1-1 with Brettonwood.
Nilgiri and New Forest bring the heat in Group C
Niligiri Secondary School and New Forest High set the standard in Group C.
Niligiri netted 11 times without conceding a single goal, cruising to a 5-0 win over Durban North College (DNC) and a 6-0 victory over St Nicholas Diocesan School.
New Forest is in second place on goal difference, and they, too, didn’t concede a goal. They opened with a 2-0 win against DNC and doubled their output against St Nicholas, winning 4-0.
Paul Roos and The Glen High separated by goal difference in Group D
In Pool D, Paul Roos Gimnasium and Pretoria’s The Glen High lead Group D after the opening day. They’ll meet in a key clash on Saturday.
Paul Roos picked up a 2-0 win over the host team, Kloof High, and overpowered Crawford International – La Lucia 8-0 in their second outing to boost their goal difference.
Nicholas Knoll netted three goals for the Stellenbosch school, while Nicholas Fillis and Zaiden Bell contributed two goals each, and Jason Raal, Jesi Lawrence, and Joey Lawrence got onto the scoresheet once each.
Matters were tighter for The Glen, but they scored the maximum six points with wins of 1-0 over Kloof High and 3-1 over Crawford La Lucia.
Westville starts strongly in Group E
Westville Boys’ High, also known as the Griffins, won twice on the opening day of the tournament to seize first place in Group E, two points clear of Alexandra High.
The Absa Wildeklawer Soccer champion, Navalsig, was included in Group E, but they withdrew from the competition at the last moment. This prompted the tournament organisers to form an Invitational Team comprising players from Kloof High, Kearsney College, and other local schools.
In their match against Westville, the Invitational Team suffered a big 0-10 defeat. They went down 3-6 against Alexandra High in their second game. Westville secured a 4-0 victory over Thomas More College in their second match, while Alexandra High was held to a goalless draw by the local school.
Westville’s Malwande Chiliza thrust himself into the race for the Golden Boot, which was won by Westville’s Dayyan Fudu last year, who netted 11 times. Chiliza finished the opening day with five goals, just one more than his teammate Nkanyezi Mkhungo, while their fellow Griffin, Lehlohonolo Mohapi, struck twice, as did Alex’s Mpilenhle Mchunu.
Vuyiswa Mtolo leads Group F, just ahead of Maritzburg College
In Group F, Vuyiswa Mtolo leads the standings on goal difference, with Maritzburg College in hot pursuit.
Vuyiswa Mtolo fired eight goals into the Reddam House Umhlanga net in their first match, winning it 8-2. They also beat Woodlands International College 3-1.
College kicked off their challenge with a convincing 6-0 win over Reddam House Umhlanga. Next, they downed Woodlands 4-2.
Tuks Sport High dominates Group G
In Group G, Tuks Sport High made an impressive start, outplaying St Francis College 6-1 and Bechet 3-1.
Durban High School (DHS) trails Tuks by two points. They were held to a 1-1 draw by Bechet before squeezing past St Francis 1-0.
HTS Louis Botha, 2024 runner-up, makes a positive start
In Group H, HTS Louis Botha, who lost to Nqabakazulu in the 2024 final, began their campaign with successive victories. Bogosi Ntomane scored three goals across two matches to lead the Bloemfontein school’s challenge.
HTS Louis Botha brushed aside Howick High, rolling to an 8-1 win, but Kearsney College proved to be a tougher nut to crack. The Free Staters, though, claimed a hard-fought 1-0 win in their second match of the day.
Birdswood trails HTS Louis Botha by two points. They began the tournament with a 2-2 draw against Kearsney College and subsequently secured a 6-2 victory over Howick High.
The Kloof High National Football Tournament continues on Saturday, with two matches scheduled in each group and places in the knockout stages on the line.
RESULTS
Friday, 26 June
Group A
Virginia 0-0 Hillcrest High
Northwood 7-0 Ashton Ballito
Virginia 15 – 1 Ashton Ballito
Northwood 1-0 Hillcrest
Group B
Brettonwood 1-1 Sarel Cilliers
Nqabakazulu 1-0 Toti
Nqabakazulu 2-1 Brettownwood
Sarel Cilliers 2-1 Toti
Group C
New Forest 2-0 Durban North College
Nilgiri 5-0 Durban North College
New Forest 4-0 St Nicholas
Nilgiri 6-0 St Nicholas
Group D
Paul Roos 2-0 Kloof High
The Glen High 3-1 Crawford La Lucia
The Glen High 1-0 Kloof High
Paul Roos 8-0 Crawford La Lucia
Group E
Westville 10- Invitational Team
Alexandra High 0-0 Thomas More
Navalsig 6-3 Invitational Team
Westville 4-0 Thomas More
Group F
Maritzburg College 6-0 Reddam House Umhlanga
Vuyiswa Mtolo 3-1 Woodlands
Maritzburg College 4-2 Woodlands
Vuyiswa Mtolo 8-2 Reddam House Umhlanga
Group G
Tuks 6-1 St Francis
DHS 1-1 Bechet
Tuks 3-1 Bechet
DHS 1-0 St Francis
Group H
HTS Louis Botha 8-1 Howick
Kearsney 2-2 Birdswood
HTS Louis Botha 1-0 Kearsney College
Birdswood 6-2 Howick
