All-out action and heightened competition were the name of the game on Saturday, the second day of the Curro Halala Cup, resulting in some unexpected outcomes, including the elimination of the defending champion, Northern Academy.
They missed out on the quarterfinals after finishing behind St Anne’s Technical High and Rosina Sedibane Modiba Sports School, who both scored four wins and a draw in a very tough Pool C.
On Saturday morning, Rosina claimed a tight 3-2 victory over Waterstone College. They had no such difficulties in their next outing, cruising to a 7-0 defeat of Curro Hazeldean.
Northern Academy mustered a narrow 1-0 win over Glenwood. Then, in a must-win clash, with a place in the quarterfinals up for grabs, they went down 0-2 to Rosina Sedibane Modiba, bringing their title defence to a halt.
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St Anne’s recorded a 4-1 win over Waterstone College, before completing their group assignments with a staggering 15-0 victory over Curro Hazeldean.
Glenwood finished fourth in the group after posting two wins and three losses. After going down against Northern Academy, the Green Machine rebounded with a 2-0 victory over Waterstone College.
In Pool A, Virginia High and Navalsig played each other in a familiar Free State faceoff, but a tense clash produced no goals. Following their goalless draw, Navalsig scored a 4-0 victory over Flora Park Comprehensive High School, while Virginia High secured a 2-0 win against Curro Thatchfield.
That left Virginia High in first place and Navalsig in second, and both teams qualified for the quarterfinals.
Curro Soshanguve, who finished fifth in Pool A with four points, played to a 2-2 draw against Flora Park. They were later beaten 1-0 by Camps Bay High, who also drew 1-1 with Curro Thatchfield to finish third in the group with six points.
Clapham High was the only team to earn maximum points in the group stage, winning all five of their matches in Pool B, although four of those victories were by hard-fought 1-0 margins. They entertained in a 1-0 win over Grey College and a 3-0 victory over Curro Century City.
Christian Brothers’ College (CBC) Mount Edmund finished in second place in Pool B with a record of three victories and two defeats, accumulating nine points.
On Saturday, CBC Mount Edmund edged past Curro Century City 1-0 and subsequently beat last year’s bronze medal winners, Grey College 1-0. In their third match of the day, they fell to a 0-2 defeat against Barberton High.
Barberton High was later held to a 2-2 draw by Meridian Cosmo City, who concluded the standings without a win, but they picked up two points from draws. Pool B produced, by far, the tightest competition, with Meridian Cosmo City, despite finishing fifth, sporting a negative goal difference of only minus four.
Following their loss to CBC Mount Edmund, Grey College also lost to Clapham High and missed the quarterfinals.
Another of the top teams of 2025, Norkem Park High, the runner-up, also failed to progress to the knockout stage of the competition, finishing third in Pool D with eight points. They were just two points behind the second-placed Durban High School (DHS) and Meridian Pinehurst, who topped the group with 10 points.
After securing a 2-0 victory over Curro Nelspruit, Norkem Park shared a goalless draw with Meridian Pinehurst.
DHS, newcomers to the tournament, advanced to the quarterfinals by finishing in second place after matching Meridian Pinehurst with a record of three victories, one draw, and one defeat.
Their results included a 1-0 win over Meridian Pinehurst on Saturday, followed by a 4-0 victory over The Vaal High. Meridian Pinehurst sneaked by Mondeor High 1-0 and was held to a scoreless draw by Norkem Park.
In other Pool D matches, The Vaal High scored a 1-0 victory over Mondeor High, who subsequently made a strong comeback with a 5-0 win over Curro Nelspruit.
RESULTS
Saturday, 8 August
Pool A
Flora Park 3-1 Curro Thatchfield
Virginia High 0-0 Navalsig
Curro Soshanguve 2-2 Flora Park
Camps Bay 1-1 Curro Thatchfield
Navalsig 4-0 Flora Park
Virginia High 2-0 Curro Thatchfield
Camps Bay 1-0 Curro Soshanguve
Pool B
CBC Mount Edmund 1-0 Curro Century City
Clapham High 1-0 Grey College
Barberton High 2-0 CBC Mount Edmund
Meridian Pinehurst 1-1 Curro Century City
CBC Mount Edmund 1-0 Grey College
Clapham High 3-0 Curro Century City
Barberton High 2-2 Meridian Cosmo City
Pool C
Rosina 3-2 Waterstone College
Northern Academy 1-0 Glenwood
Rosina 7-0 Curro Hazeldean
St Anne’s 4-1 Waterstone College
Rosina 2-0 Northern Academy
Glenwood 2-0 Waterstone College
St Anne’s 15-0 Curro Hazeldean
Pool D
Meridian Pinehurst 1-0 Mondeor High
Norkem Park 2-0 Curro Nelspruit
DHS 1-0 Meridian Pinehurst
The Vaal High 1-0 Mondeor High
Norkem Park 0-0 Meridian Pinehurst
Mondeor High 5-0 Curro Nelspruit
DHS 4-0 The Vaal High
