{"id":45179,"date":"2024-05-16T19:33:46","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T17:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=45179"},"modified":"2024-05-16T19:33:46","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T17:33:46","slug":"the-battle-for-the-aitken-cup-starts-on-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=45179","title":{"rendered":"The battle for the Aitken Cup starts on Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"St
St Stithians will have the advantage of playing at home when they defend the Aitken Cup title.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After annexing the 2023 Aitken Cup<\/strong>, St Stithians College<\/strong> will attempt a defence of the prestigious title this weekend. The tournament starts on the Saints’ Astros on Friday and wraps up on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Last year, St Stithians outplayed St John\u2019s College<\/strong> 5-1 to qualify for the final. Facing Jeppe High School for Boys<\/strong> for a second year in succession for the title, they triumphed 4-2 in a penalty shootout, after the teams had finished regulation time all square at 2-2, to be crowned the champions.<\/p>\n

It was a superb fightback from Saints, who had trailed 0-2. Connor Sneddon<\/strong> pulled one back with a fine effort and a Taine Tanner-Ellis<\/strong> penalty corner goal levelled the scores.<\/p>\n

The 2023 result was a reversal of the 2022 final, when Jeppe got the better of St Stithians.<\/p>\n

Jeppe is the most successful team in the history of the competition, and before they were beaten by Saints last year, they had won it six times in succession.<\/p>\n

This year, the Zebras<\/strong> have been up and down, struggling for consistency, but coach Siya Sityana<\/strong>‘s charges cannot be counted out, especially when there is silverware on the line.<\/p>\n

Their recent results have been a cause for optimism. They outgunned Krugersdorp High School<\/strong> 7-0 and settled for a 2-2 draw with Affies. They also recorded a 3-2 win over King Edward VII (KES)<\/strong> and, in April, ran out 3-1 winners over the visiting Westville Boys’ High School<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Saints will open their challenge on Friday with an outing against Helpmekaar Kollege<\/strong>, who warmed up for the game with a 2-1 victory over Heronbridge<\/strong> on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

Jeppe, on the other Astro, will face St David’s Marist Inanda<\/strong> in the second clash of the day. It’s a big game for both sides, especially since St David’s recorded a big 4-1 win over Jeppe in early April.<\/p>\n

That clash will be followed by St Benedict’s College<\/strong> against KES. Bennies has enjoyed a solid season and should be favoured in the game, but there are no foregone conclusions, and a good tussle should be expected.<\/p>\n

FRIDAY FIXTURES<\/strong><\/p>\n

7:30<\/strong> – St Stithians v Helpmekaar; 07:45<\/strong> – Jeppe v St David’s; 08:20<\/strong> – St Benedict’s v KES; 08:35<\/strong> – St John’s v Noordheuwel; 09:20<\/strong> – Parktown v Randpark; 09:35<\/strong> – Northcliff v Monument; 10:00<\/strong> – Linden v Fourways; 10:15<\/strong> – Trinityhouse v Beaulieu; 11:00 –<\/strong> St Stithians v Parktown; 11:15 –<\/strong> Jeppe v Northcliff; 11:50 –<\/strong> St Benedict’s v Linden; 12:05<\/strong> – St John’s v Trinityhouse; 13:20 –<\/strong> Helpmekaar v Randpark; 13:35 St David’s v\u00a0 Monument; 14:10<\/strong> – KES v Fourways; 14:25 Noordheuwel v Beaulieu; 15:10<\/strong> – St Stithians v Randpark; 15:25 –<\/strong> Jeppe v Monument; 16:00<\/strong> – St Benedict’s v Fourways; 16:15<\/strong> – St John’s v Beaulieu; 17:00 –<\/strong> Helpmekaar v Parktown; 16:15<\/strong> – St David’s v Northcliff; 17:50 –<\/strong> KES v Linden; 18:05 –<\/strong> Noordheuwel v Trinityhouse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After annexing the 2023 Aitken Cup, St Stithians College will attempt a defence of the prestigious title this weekend. The tournament starts on the Saints’ Astros on Friday and wraps up on Sunday. Last year, St Stithians outplayed St John\u2019s College 5-1 to qualify for the final. Facing Jeppe High School for Boys for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":45187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45179\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}