{"id":95578,"date":"2026-05-15T20:57:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T18:57:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=95578"},"modified":"2026-05-15T20:57:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T18:57:44","slug":"aitken-cup-heats-up-as-top-guns-book-quarterfinal-spots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=95578","title":{"rendered":"Aitken Cup heats up as top guns book quarterfinal spots"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
St Benedict’s College picked up two victories on day two of the Aitken Cup to book their spot in the last eight. Photo: Kuldip Mangat<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eight teams turned in impressive performances on Friday, day two of the Aitken Cup<\/a><\/strong>, to book their places in the quarterfinals at St Stithians College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

After a glut of goals on Thursday, the teams returned to action on Friday knowing exactly what they needed to do to progress to the knockout stage.<\/p>\n

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

In Pool A, the defending champion, Jeppe High School for Boys<\/strong>, chasing a third straight title, was on cruise control. They progressed to the next round without conceding a goal.<\/p>\n

In their opening match, they thumped Monument<\/strong> 11-0 and followed up that emphatic victory with a 3-0 win against Trinityhouse Randpark Ridge<\/strong> and an 8-0 shellacking of Northcliff<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The boys from Kensington played enterprising hockey, linked up with each other brilliantly, and at times made the game look extremely easy.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll take on Parktown Boys\u2019 High<\/strong> in the last eight, a side they beat in the pre-season, and the team they beat in the 2024 final<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Joining them from Pool A is Trinityhouse Randpark Ridge, who secured second place after beating Monument 5-0 and Northcliff 9-0.<\/p>\n

The hosts, St Stithians College<\/strong>, progressed from Pool B along with St Benedict’s College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Saints<\/em> <\/strong>made a strong start to their campaign and outplayed Bennies<\/strong> <\/em>4-0 on day one. Their smooth progress was, however, halted by Ho\u00ebrskool Noordheuwel<\/strong>, who held them to a 1-1 draw in their second outing.<\/p>\n

That meant they had to beat Linden<\/strong> to ensure they advanced. Playing in front of their home crowd, they delivered a dominant performance, controlling every facet of the game. They took their chances and powered their way to a 7-0 victory.<\/p>\n

After a slow start, St Benedict’s bounced back in style, firstly beating Linden 4-0 in the morning before an Alex Johnston<\/strong> hat-trick spurred coach Siya Lusiba<\/strong>\u2019s side to a 3-1 win over Noordheuwel.<\/p>\n

St David’s Marist Inanda<\/strong> and Parktown Boys’ High<\/strong> took the top two spots in Pool C.<\/p>\n

When they met, St David’s won 3-1 to complete their group assignments with a flawless record.<\/p>\n

Parktown handled business against Randpark High and Redhill to reach the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

St John’s College<\/strong> and Helpmekaar Kollege<\/strong> completed the quarterfinals’ line-up.<\/p>\n

After playing to a pulsating 2-2 draw on Thursday, they finished with the same number of points, but St John’s topped the group thanks to their superior goal difference, which came from a 7-0 victory over Beaulieu College<\/strong> and a 6-0 win against HeronBridge<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

St John’s takes on Bennies<\/em><\/strong> in the last eight, while Helpies<\/em><\/strong> tackle Saints.<\/p>\n

RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

DAY 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thursday, 14 May<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pool A<\/strong><\/p>\n

Northcliff 9-0 Trinityhouse Randpark Ridge
\nJeppe 11-0 Monument<\/p>\n

Pool B <\/strong><\/p>\n

Noordheuwel 4-1 Linden
\nSt Stithians College 4-0 St Benedict’s College<\/p>\n

Pool C<\/strong><\/p>\n

Randpark High 1-1 Redhill
\nSt David’s 3-1 Parktown Boys’ High<\/p>\n

Pool D<\/b><\/p>\n

HeronBridge 3-2 Beaulieu
\nSt John\u2019s 2-2 Helpmekaar<\/p>\n

Friday, 15 May<\/strong><\/p>\n

DAY 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pool A<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jeppe 3-0 Trinityhouse Randpark Ridge
\nMonument 3-2 Northcliff
\nJeppe 8-0 Northcliff
\nTrinityhouse Randpark Ridge 3-0 Monument<\/p>\n

Pool B<\/strong><\/p>\n

St Stithians 1-1 Noordheuwel
\nSt Benedict’s College 4-0 Linden
\nSt Stithians 7-0 Linden
\nSt Benedict’s 3-1 Noordheuwel<\/p>\n

Pool C<\/strong><\/p>\n

St David’s 3-0 Randpark High
\nParktown Boys’ High 4-0 Redhill
\nSt David’s 6-0 Redhill
\nParktown 4-2 Randpark High<\/p>\n

Pool D <\/strong><\/p>\n

St John’s College 7-0 Beaulieu
\nHelpmekaar 6-0 HeronBridge
\nSt John\u2019s College 6-0 HeronBridge
\nHelpmekaar 3-0 Beaulieu<\/p>\n

FIXTURES\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Quarterfinals\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saints Red Astro<\/strong><\/p>\n

07:30 – Jeppe vs Parktown
\n09:00 – St John’s College vs St Benedict’s College
\n10:30 – St Stithians College vs Helpmekaar
\n12:00 – St David’s vs Trinityhouse Randpark Ridge<\/p>\n

Playoffs\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saints Blue Astro<\/strong><\/p>\n

07:30 – Monument vs Redhill
\n09:00 – Beaulieu vs Linden
\n10:30 – Noordheuwel vs HeronBridge
\n12:00 – Randpark vs Northcliff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eight teams turned in impressive performances on Friday, day two of the Aitken Cup, to book their places in the quarterfinals at St Stithians College. After a glut of goals on Thursday, the teams returned to action on Friday knowing exactly what they needed to do to progress to the knockout stage. Catch the action […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":95601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95578","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\/95578","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\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=95578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/95601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=95578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=95578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=95578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}