{"id":76988,"date":"2025-07-05T06:06:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T04:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=76988"},"modified":"2025-07-05T06:06:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T04:06:36","slug":"durban-ladies-complete-historic-three-peat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=76988","title":{"rendered":"Durban Ladies complete historic three-peat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Junior Stars and Durban Ladies celebrate their title wins in the KwaZulu-Natal Engen Knockout Challenge at Kloof High School, on 04 July 2025. Photo: Gerhard Duraan\/BackpagePix.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The KwaZulu-Natal leg of the 2025 Engen Knockout Challenge<\/strong> wrapped up in thrilling fashion at Kloof High School on Friday, with Durban Ladies<\/strong> etching their name in history by securing a third consecutive title in the girls’ division.<\/p>\n

Junior Stars<\/strong> claimed the boys’ title after two days of electrifying football.<\/p>\n

The event brought together KwaZulu-Natal\u2019s top u18 boys’ and u20 girls’ teams, who battled it out in a very competitive competition.<\/p>\n

In the girls’ division, however, Durban Ladies, once again, went all the way, but they were pushed to their limits in the final by Ezemvelo<\/strong>, sneaking a 5-4 win in a penalty shoot-out.<\/p>\n

In the boys’ division, Junior Stars<\/strong> demonstrated grit, tactical discipline and attacking firepower to score a hard-fought 1-0 win over Kusekhaya Academy<\/strong> in the title game.<\/p>\n

Tournament ambassador and former Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana goalkeeper, Brighton Mhlongo<\/strong>, was on hand throughout the weekend and inspired the players with hands-on support and key insights. His message was clear: “This tournament is more than just a platform. It’s a springboard for the next generation to grow, lead, and dream bigger.”<\/p>\n

The 2025 theme, “It’s Your Moment, Future Diski Legends,” echoed across the tournament both on and off the field as emerging stars rose to the occasion and embraced the spotlight.<\/p>\n

As the provincial champions, Durban Ladies and Junior Stars will represent KwaZulu-Natal at the Engen Champ of Champs in October 2025, when they go head-to-head with the nation’s other regional champions.<\/p>\n

Engen Knockout Individual Awards<\/strong><\/p>\n

Girls
\n<\/strong>
\nGoalkeeper of the tournament: Nosipho Madikane \u2013 Ezemvelo
\nDefender of the tournament: Luyanda Thabethe \u2013 Durban Ladies
\nMidfielder of the tournament: Okuhle Sithole \u2013 Durban Ladies
\nTop Goalscorer: Asanda Mchunu \u2013 Ezemvelo
\nStriker of the tournament: Noluthando Fenner \u2013 Ezemvelo
\nCoach of the tournament: Melikhana Makhaye \u2013 Durban Ladies
\nPlayer of the tournament: Okuhle Sithole – Durban Ladies
\nFair play team of the tournament: Mpheli All Stars<\/p>\n

Boys
\n<\/strong>
\nGoalkeeper of the tournament: Siphephelo Majozi \u2013 KZN Academy
\nDefender of the tournament: Siphesihle Sikhakhane \u2013 Khuzekhanya
\nMidfielder of the tournament: Andile Ngobese \u2013 Amazulu FC
\nTop Goalscorer: Mtobisi Zondo \u2013 Inanda XL
\nStriker of the tournament: Melokuhle Khoma \u2013 Junior Stars
\nCoach of the tournament: Musawenkosi Ntuli \u2013 Junior Stars
\nPlayer of the tournament: Melokuhle Khomo – Junior Stars
\nFairplay team of the tournament: Kuzekhaya<\/p>\n

Referee of the tournament:<\/strong>\u00a0Sabelo Gumede<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The KwaZulu-Natal leg of the 2025 Engen Knockout Challenge wrapped up in thrilling fashion at Kloof High School on Friday, with Durban Ladies etching their name in history by securing a third consecutive title in the girls’ division. Junior Stars claimed the boys’ title after two days of electrifying football. The event brought together KwaZulu-Natal\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":76990,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76988","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\/76988","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=76988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/76990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}