SDMI NEDBANK CHALLENGE CUP DAY 3 WRAP-UP - ST DAVID'S TAKE THE CUP!

St David’s Marist Inanda won the Challenge Cup tournament for the sixth time, beating St John’s 1-0 in the final on Sunday.

St John’s had a very good weekend. They beat St Stithians in an exciting quarterfinal that went down to a penalty on Saturday and then caused a bit of an upset by knocking the fancied Jeppe out in the semifinal stage, to advance to the final of this tournament for the first time.

The hosts’ path to the final was as dramatic, their semifinal was goalless, and the penalty shoot out that followed went into sudden death and it took four more rounds of spot kicks before the winner emerged. 

The final was a tense affair with neither side giving anything away. The hosts went ahead late in the first half via a penalty and their defence was solid in the face of some desperate St John’s attacking at the end.

King Edward VII School were the bronze medallists. They beat Jeppe 1-0 in a playoff game that was very tight. KES scored their goal from the penalty spot.

The final round of matches on Sunday determined the final standings in the U19 section. The results of those games were:

Final – St David’s 1 St John’s 0; 3rd place – KES 1 Jeppe 0; 5th place St Benedict;s 2 Hilton 1; 7th place Brebner 4 St Stithians 0; 9th place – Norkem Park 4 Grey College 1; 11th place St Alban’s 2 St Andrew’s. 

The rest of the placings were: 13 Michaelhouse, 14 Clifton, 15 St Peter’s, 16 Marist Linmeyer. 

This was the biggest Challenge Cup tournament yet. There were more than 800 boys in action, with a Grade 6 section added and a festival for eight U19 teams who haven’t been here before. A total of 96 matches were played, and the grand final took place exactly as scheduled on the third day – testament to some great organisation, and excellent discipline from the teams.

BY THEO GARRUN