After a stunning turnaround, Northwood wins the coveted Cowie Cup
Northwood battled their way to a hard-fought 1-0 win over Carter High on Wednesday in the final of the Mancosa KwaZulu-Natal High Schools Football Association (KZNHSFA) Cowie Cup.
It was a triumphant end to an inspiring season from the Knights, who went from a struggling team of also-rans to a competitive never-say-die group of winners.
Rhys Millar netted the winning goal for Northwood, having also struck twice for the Knights in their 2-1 win over Maritzburg College in the semi-finals.
The Durban school’s journey to the title was anything but straightforward. Maritzburg College won the KZNHSFA Inland A-League, while Carter High was the runner-up.
Exhibiting fantastic resilience, the Knights defeated the KZN two Inland powers to add another couple of names to the list of opponents they defeated during the third term. Among them, also, was Westville Boys’ High, the champions of the KZNHSFA Coastal A-League.
Northwood’s football journey in 2025 was unforgettable. During the Second Term Coastal A-League, they were well off the pace and relegation threatened. However, they narrowly avoided the drop on the final day by recording their first and only victory of the second-term league, beating Pinetown Boys’ High 3-0. Pinetown, who had their own issues during the second term, later won the Kearsney Soccer Tournament and the Kloof High Football Tournament.
Since avoiding relegation, Northwood has been a team revitalised, stacking wins in the third term while just missing out on the Primo Big 10 title, where they finished as the runner-up.
After the conclusion of the Mancosa Cowie final, SuperSport Schools Plus spoke with Daniel Haswell, the Chairperson of the Mancosa KZNHSFA, who also serves as the Director of Soccer at Westville Boys’ High.
“Congratulations to Northwood for winning the KZNHSFA Mancosa Cowie Cup for the first time. Commiseration to Carter after losing three finals in four years,” Haswell said.
The Cowie Cup served as the final schools’ football competition within the Mancosa KZNHSFA football framework.
“This brings the curtain down on another memorable season,” Haswell said.
“The football played was of a high standard and extremely competitive.
“Every tournament was won by a different team, which is an indication of the depth of talent and the coaching work that is going on at the schools as they contest so keenly for the trophies.”
For Northwood, now that the season is over, their 2025 campaign will serve as inspiration for future generations of Knights’ teams. They took their knocks in the second term, but, somehow, they used those setbacks to rise to the challenges that awaited instead of shrinking in the face of more tough tests.
A first-ever Cowie Cup title spoke volumes about the strong character of the side, about the value of teamwork, and about the vital life lessons that can be learnt through sport.
Northwood will treasure the 2025 season, as they deserve to do. Sports fans love a tale of an underdog come good, a story of a struggling side upsetting the odds, and the Knights fit that bill. They did more than upset the odds in one or two games, though. Their success was about a complete reversal of fortunes, turning the team from one that others expected to beat into a united unit that others respected and faced with trepidation.
At the end of their journey, being crowned the champions of KwaZulu-Natal’s most prestigious knockout tournament was testament to their stirring and remarkable turnaround.
