A stacked lineup for the Ian Melliar Cup
Twenty teams from across the country will assemble at Cape Town’s Wynberg Boys’ High this weekend for the prestigious u15 Ian Melliar Cup.
The annual event runs from 25 to 28 September, with matches being played at the Wynberg Boys’ High and Junior School Pools.
Catch all the matches LIVE on SuperSport Schools.
The teams have been divided into four groups of five, with the defending champions, Rondebosch Boys’ High, in Pool B.
The Cape outfit won the title in 2024 after dominating Clifton College in the final, winning 10-2.
Standing in the way in their group will be Glenwood House, from George, KZN’s Maritzburg College, and the Gauteng duo of Pretoria Boys High (PBHS) and St David’s Marist Inanda.
‘Bosch was outstanding at last year’s tournament, going unbeaten through their pool assignments and in the playoffs. They faced Glenwood House, PBHS and St David’s and scored a combined whopping 33 goals in those three outings.
They’ll be favoured to go all the way once again. Their quest for back-to-back titles begins against St David’s on day one at 16:00.
Pool A, meanwhile, will be contested by Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies), Grey High, Hilton College, Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG), and the hosts, Wynberg Boys’ High. Based on last year’s performances, it’s likely to be a tightly contested group.
Out of those five teams, it was Wynberg who finished the highest in 2024, in fourth, while Hilton was right behind them, in fifth place.
Paul Roos and Grey High finished seventh and eighth, respectively, while Affies will be aiming to improve on their 11th place finish.
Pool C is wide open. Bishops, the champions of 2023, will fancy their chances of getting the job done against a Cape Town Invitational side and Reddam House Constantia. They also take on Kearsney College and Selborne College, with the East London school returning to the event after a year’s absence.
Last year’s silver medal winners, Clifton College, who are in good early season form, are in Pool D. They’re up against a Buffalo City Invitational team, Paarl Boys’ High, South African College High School (SACS), and the formidable St John’s College.
Clifton showed impressive grit when they made the final last year after finishing third in their pool with three wins, a loss and a draw.
In the quarterfinals, they edged out Kearsney 6-5 before downing Wynberg 7-6 in the semi-finals to sneak into the title deciding game.
Those tight playoff wins caught up to the Durban boys in the final, but they’ll draw inspiration from their performances as the aim to go one step further this year.
The tournament commences with two matches at 14:00 when Paarl Boys’ High and SACS meet at the Wynberg Boys’ High Pool, while Wynberg tackles Paul Roos at the Junior Pool.
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Pool A: Affies, Grey High, Hilton College, Paul Roos, Wynberg Boys’ High
Pool B: Glenwood House, Maritzburg College, Pretoria Boys’ High, Rondebosch Boys’ High, St David’s Marist Inanda
Pool C: Bishops, Cape Town Invitational, Kearsney College, Reddam House Constantia, Selborne College
Pool D: Buffalo City Invitational, Clifton College, Paarl Boys’ High, SACS, St John’s College
