{"id":76873,"date":"2025-07-04T08:43:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T06:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=76873"},"modified":"2025-07-04T08:43:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T06:43:14","slug":"durban-engen-knockout-challenge-off-to-a-fiery-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=76873","title":{"rendered":"Durban Engen Knockout Challenge off to a fiery start"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Midlands Academy (yellow) v Kusekhaya Academy (blue) during the Engen Knockout Challenge 2025 KwaZulu Natal Finals at Kloof High School, in Durban on 3 July 2025. Photo: Phakamisa Lensman\/BackpagePix.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 2025 Engen Knockout Challenge<\/strong> playoffs kicked off at Kloof High School<\/strong> on Thursday, with u18 boys’ and u20 girls’ teams from across KwaZulu-Natal competing in the provincial leg of one of South Africa\u2019s top youth football tournaments.<\/p>\n

Catch the action LIVE on SuperSport Schools!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The first day of competitive group stage matches saw some strong performances from teams aiming to make it through to the knockout rounds.<\/p>\n

The tournament’s ambassador, Brighton Mhlongo<\/strong>, the former Orlando Pirates<\/strong>‘ and Bafana Bafana<\/strong> goalkeeper, encouraged players during the opening ceremony to make the most of their opportunity.<\/p>\n

“This tournament is a mirror,” he said. “It reflects your mindset, your hunger, your character. Play with purpose. Play like it’s your moment, because it is.”<\/p>\n

In the girls’ division, the defending champions, Durban Ladies<\/strong>, made a solid start, winning both of their matches to finish top of Group A, thus booking their place in the quarterfinals. They were joined by Toti Ladies<\/strong>, who secured their spot after a narrow 1\u20130 win over Sunflower<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In Group B, Babhamba<\/strong> finished at the top of the group with two wins, while Mphehli All Stars<\/strong> earned second place, thanks to a strong 7\u20131 victory over Umlazi Young Lions<\/strong>, which also confirmed their place in the knockout stage of the competition.<\/p>\n

Adams Academy<\/strong> and Ezemvelo<\/strong> also gave good accounts of themselves with competitive performances across the day.<\/p>\n

In the boys’ division, AmaZulu FC<\/strong> advanced to the quarterfinals after finishing level with Junior Stars<\/strong> at the top of Group A, with first place being decided by a coin toss.<\/p>\n

Highlander Academy<\/strong>, Mophela Development<\/strong>, and Inanda XL<\/strong> also moved on to the next round putting in strong shifts in their respective group matches.<\/p>\n

The tournament continues with the quarterfinals, semi-finals, and final on Friday.<\/p>\n

A new boys’ champion will be crowned, while the Durban Ladies continue their quest to defend the title.<\/p>\n

RESULTS<\/b><\/p>\n

Women<\/strong><\/p>\n

Durban Ladies 1-0 Sunflower
\nUmlazi Young Lions 1-7 Mphehli All Stars
\nAdams Academy 2-0 Senzokuhle
\nBrazil Academy 5-0 Kwamashu Ladies
\nJunior Stars 2-1 Clermont Eagles
\nDurban Ladies 3-1 Toti Ladies
\nHighlanders 2-0 Mandeni Celtics
\nMidlands Academy 0-0 Kusekhaya Academy
\nSouth Coast United 1-1 Mophela Development
\nUmlazi Young Lions 0-4 Babhambe
\nAdams Academy 0-1 Westville Ladies
\nBrazil Academy 0-5 Ezemvelo<\/p>\n

Men<\/strong><\/p>\n

Junior Stars 2-2 Amazulu FC
\nHighlanders 2-0 Ethekwini City Styles
\nMidlands Academy 1-1 Inanda XI
\nSouth Coast United 0-2 KZN Academy
\nSunflower 0-2 Toti Ladies
\nMphehleli All Stars 0-1 Babhambe
\nSenzokuhle 4-0 Westville Ladies
\nKwamashu Ladies 0-9 Ezemvelo
\nClermont Eagles 1-2 Amazulu FC
\nMandeni Celtics 2-4 Ethekwini City Styles
\nKusekhaya Academy 2-2 Inanda XI
\nMophela 1-0 KZN Academy<\/p>\n

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

Women<\/strong><\/p>\n

Durban Ladies vs Brazil Academy
\nBabhambe vs Adams Academy
\nSenzokuhle Ladies vs Mphehli All Stars
\nEzemvelo vs Toti Ladies<\/p>\n

Men<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amazulu vs KZN Academy
\nHighlanders vs Kusekhaya
\nInanda XI vs Ethekwini City Styles
\nMophela Development vs Junior Stars<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2025 Engen Knockout Challenge playoffs kicked off at Kloof High School on Thursday, with u18 boys’ and u20 girls’ teams from across KwaZulu-Natal competing in the provincial leg of one of South Africa\u2019s top youth football tournaments. Catch the action LIVE on SuperSport Schools! The first day of competitive group stage matches saw some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":76874,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76873","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\/76873","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\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/76874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}