St Benedict’s College strike twice to sink St John’s College in Challenge Cup

The St David’s Marist Inanda Challenge Cup 2026 delivered a thrilling final on August 9, as St Benedict’s College U19 edged out St John’s College U19 2–0 after a fiercely contested battle that kept spectators on their feets.

With both teams determined to finish the three-day tournament as champions, neither side was willing to give an inch during a tense opening 35 minutes.

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St Benedict’s and St John’s created opportunities, but were unable to find the breakthrough, sending the teams into the halftime interval locked at 0–0.

The intensity continued after the halftime with both sides showing determination, discipline, and a willingness to fight for every ball. St Benedict’s continued to search for an opening against tough defenders from St John’s.

Eventually, St Benedict’s pressure paid off. They found the back of the net twice in the second half, turning a tightly contested match in their favour and securing a 2–0 victory to lift the coveted Challenge Cup 2026.

St Benedict’s U19 soccer coach Brogan Sanders said the result marked a strong return for the school, after they were knocked out in the quarter-finals of last year’s competition.

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“St John’s obviously put up a very good fight. They are a very strong team. So, I think the boys showed great grit coming into the game. Fighting for the last minute and making sure that we came together unified to pull off the results.”

He praised his team putting in the effort and sticking together against their tough opponent. “We are very happy and I’m very excited and happy for the boys to take the win. Hopefully, next season we can come back and give her results again next year.”

Despite falling short in the final, St John’s coach Lebo Masake was proud of his team’s performance, particularly considering the limited preparation time available to them. “I’m very proud of the boys, given the fact that this is our second final in a row. Unfortunately, we’re not able to jump that one header.

“Given the fact that we only have four weeks to prepare the team, I think that the boys done really well.”

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The coach acknowledged that fatigue became a factor during the demanding tournament, while also identifying areas the team would need to work on going forward.

“There’s always room for improvement when it comes to football. I think that we had a couple of chances that we did not utilise. I think we also need to correct our finishing. We also made some defensive errors in the beginning of the game. So, those are areas of improvement we need to focus on.”

Tournament director Bradley Ireland described it as the largest edition in the competition’s history. He said the tournament was launched in 2003, after organisers identified a need for greater football opportunities for boys’ schools in Johannesburg.

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He said the tournament began as an U19 competition and has grown substantially over the years, now including the U15 and U12 divisions, as well as an additional U19 section for teams that do not qualify for the main Challenge Cup.

“This year has been particularly successful. I think it’s the largest we’ve ever had. First time we’ve had 50 teams, the spirit has been fantastic, the way in which the game has been played was excellent.

“The turnout of the spectators was phenomenal and we had some fantastic support for the full three days.

All of the games have really gone well. No incidents to speak of, that we had to deal with. I think it was a huge success overall.”

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