{"id":83470,"date":"2025-09-22T09:29:30","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T07:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=83470"},"modified":"2025-09-22T09:29:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T07:29:30","slug":"highlands-park-drops-points-sundowns-win-pretoria-derby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=83470","title":{"rendered":"Highlands Park drops points, Sundowns win Pretoria derby"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_83491\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-83491\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-83491 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Mamelodi-Sundowns--400x381.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"381\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-83491\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mamelodi Sundowns secured a 1-0 victory over SuperSport United in the Tshwane derby at the u19 GDL Festival. Photo: Mondli Dube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>An action-packed weekend in the <strong>Gauteng Development League (GDL)<\/strong> included a successful <strong>u19 GDL Festival<\/strong>, held at the <strong>Sicelo Stadium<\/strong>, in Midvaal, on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, though, the league leaders, <strong>Highlands Park,<\/strong> and <strong>Wits Junior<\/strong> squared off in an exciting, high-scoring match that concluded with a 3-3 draw at <strong>Marks Park<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The home side, Wits, appeared to be on the verge of a shock victory, but a late equaliser from the penalty spot by the <em><strong>Lions of North<\/strong><\/em> grabbed a share of the spoils for the visitors.<\/p>\n<p>The late goal was likely a disappointment for their title challengers &#8211; <strong>SuperSport United, Randburg AFC, Remember Elite Sport Academy (RESA), and Mamelodi<\/strong> <strong>Sundowns<\/strong> &#8211; all of whom were closely monitoring the match.<\/p>\n<p>In other matches on Saturday, <strong>Rockefvs<\/strong> handily defeated <strong>Jomo Cosmos<\/strong>, beating <em><strong>EzeNkosi<\/strong><\/em> 3-0, while <strong>East Rand Athletic Club<\/strong> took on a revitalised <strong>Seven&#8217;s Academy<\/strong>, who were fresh off of an impressive 4-3 victory over Randburg last weekend. But East Rand executed their strategy effectively and emerged with a 2-0 win.<\/p>\n<p>The focus of the GDL weekend was Sunday&#8217;s u19 Festival and it didn&#8217;t disappoint, with the Midvaal community turning out in large numbers to enjoy the action.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Football - Tuks vs Mamelodi Sundowns FC - Gauteng Development League - 21 September 2025\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CGb0jUBoPVk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@schoolofrugby\"><strong>Check out the SuperSport Schools Plus YouTube Channel for more GDL highlights<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The matches kicked off with a hard-fought 1-0 victory for SuperSport United over <strong>Kathorus Hyper Academy.<\/strong> Given <a href=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/kathorus-lights-up-gdl-season\/\"><strong>Kathorus&#8217;s strong form<\/strong> <\/a>during the second round of the GDL fixtures, and the pressure of the title race, it was a big three points for SuperSport.<\/p>\n<p>In the day&#8217;s second match, RESA secured a crucial victory to also remain in contention for the title. <strong>Mandla Vilakati <\/strong>continued an excellent season for the Vereeniging-based club, netting a brace in a 2-0 victory over <strong>School of Excellence<\/strong>, which resulted in him deservedly receiving the man of the match award.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_83495\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-83495\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-83495\" src=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/RESA-vs-SOE-400x411.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"411\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-83495\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The match between RESA and the School of Excellence, won 2-0 by RESA, captivated the audience in the stands. Photo: Mondli Dube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mamelodi Sundowns knew they had a chance to close the gap on Highlands Park ahead of their Pretoria derby against the <strong>University of Pretoria (Tuks)<\/strong>. It proved to be a challenging contest for both teams.<\/p>\n<p>Sundowns eventually won and earned all three points on offer, thanks to a goal from <strong>Selwyn Stevens<\/strong>, who also earned the man of the match accolade for his outstanding performance.<\/p>\n<p>In the final match of the day, Kaizer Chiefs, who <a href=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/highlands-park-wins-and-extends-gdl-lead-as-results-go-their-way\/\"><strong>suffered a 0-3 defeat against Highlands Park<\/strong> <\/a>at home last week, took on <strong>Panorama<\/strong> FC. The Amakhosi reversed their fortunes in style, romping to a 4-0 victory.<\/p>\n<p>In a match played at the <strong>Randburg Sports Complex<\/strong>, <strong>Randburg AFC <\/strong>held off <strong>Elspark United Academy <\/strong>2-1.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lehlogonolo Kakamba<\/strong> and <strong>Keith Jele<\/strong> struck for the home team, while <strong>Tebogo Dlamini<\/strong> replied for Elspark.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, September 24, <strong>Heritage Day<\/strong>, the GDL will feature a full round of fixtures.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Saturday, 20 September\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rockefvs 3-0 Jomo Cosmos<br \/>\nHighlands Park 3-3 Wits Junior<br \/>\nEast Rand 2-0 Seven&#8217;s Academy<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sunday, 20 September\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>SuperSport United 1-0 Kathorus<br \/>\nRESA 2-0 School of Excellence<br \/>\nMamelodi Sundowns 1-0 Tuks<br \/>\nKaizer Chiefs 4-0 Panorama FC<br \/>\nRandburg AFC 2-1 Elspark United Academy<\/p>\n<p><strong>Forthcoming Fixtures\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Wednesday, 24 September\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>14:00\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>3rd Square Stadium<br \/>\n<\/strong>TS Galaxy vs School of Excellence<\/p>\n<p><strong>14:30<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tuks Sports Ground<br \/>\n<\/strong>Tuks vs Jomo Cosmos<\/p>\n<p><strong>Elspark Sports Ground<br \/>\n<\/strong>Elpark United vs Panorama FC<\/p>\n<p><strong>Woodlands International College<br \/>\n<\/strong>Seven&#8217;s Academy vs Kathorus Hyper Academy<\/p>\n<p><strong>Greek Sporting Club<br \/>\n<\/strong>Joburg City vs Mamelodi Sundowns<\/p>\n<p><strong>15:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Curro Sagewood<br \/>\n<\/strong>SuperSport United vs Randburg<\/p>\n<p><strong>ACCP Sports Ground<br \/>\n<\/strong>Rockefvs vs RESA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An action-packed weekend in the Gauteng Development League (GDL) included a successful u19 GDL Festival, held at the Sicelo Stadium, in Midvaal, on Sunday. On Saturday, though, the league leaders, Highlands Park, and Wits Junior squared off in an exciting, high-scoring match that concluded with a 3-3 draw at Marks Park. The home side, Wits, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":83491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83470","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\/83470","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\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/83491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}