There is something electric about a penalty shootout. The whole weight of a tournament, weeks of training, early mornings and scraped knees, compressed into a single moment between a goalkeeper and a striker. On Sunday at Erica Park in Belhar, two teams from Cape Town felt that electricity — and walked away with trophies that meant everything.
Wynberg-based Antalyaspor JPM CT claimed the Engen Knockout Challenge under-18 boys’ title, defeating national champions Ubuntu Football Academy 5-4 on penalties after a tense 1-1 draw in regulation time. In the same breath, RV United shattered Cape Town Roses’ four-year stranglehold on the Under-20 girls’ title, also through penalties after a goalless final. Two finals. Two shootouts. Two new champions.
This was not supposed to happen. Ubuntu Football Academy are national champions — the kind of team younger players grow up watching, the kind of name that makes opponents nervous in the tunnel. And Cape Town Roses had owned the girls’ division for four consecutive years, a dominance so consistent it had started to feel permanent. Sunday dismantled both legacies in a single afternoon.
A Final Four Weeks in the Making
The day itself almost never came. Severe weather forced a postponement on June 28, pushing the finals back four weeks and leaving players in that uncomfortable limbo of being ready but having nowhere to go. When Sunday finally arrived, the weather relented. Perfect conditions. No excuses. Just football.
The day opened with third-place playoffs, Cape Town City and Dangerous Heroes collecting bronze medals in the boys’ and girls’ divisions respectively before the main events unfolded. But everyone knew what they were there for.
Antalyaspor’s Road to Glory
Coach Gareth Ncaca had built something real in Wynberg. Antalyaspor JPM CT did not stumble into this final — they earned it, beating Cape Town City 2-0 in the semi-final with a performance that announced their intentions clearly. Ubuntu, meanwhile, had survived their own semi-final drama, edging past Safa Cape Town Academy on penalties after a goalless draw, a preview of the nerve-shredding finale that awaited them.
The final itself delivered exactly the tension the semi-finals promised. One goal apiece after ninety minutes. Neither side willing to break. Then the penalty spot, where Antalyaspor held their nerve tighter, converting to win 5-4 and send Wynberg into celebration. National champions beaten. A new name on the trophy.
RV United End Four Years of Roses
The girls’ final carried its own weight of history. Cape Town Roses had not lost this title since 2020. Four years. That kind of run breeds confidence in the winners and quiet resignation in everyone else — the sense that you are playing for second place before a ball is even kicked. RV United refused that script entirely.
They had cruised past Ubuntu Football Academy in the semi-final, a result that signalled their momentum and hunger. Cape Town Roses, for their part, arrived in the final in form, having dismantled Dangerous Heroes 2-0 in their semi. The stage was set for a classic confrontation between an unstoppable force and a dynasty defending its throne.
Ninety minutes of football. No goals. Everything decided from twelve yards. RV United held their nerve where it mattered most, converting their penalties to claim the title and end an era that had defined girls’ football in Cape Town for half a decade.
What This Means Beyond the Trophy
It would be easy to reduce Sunday to scorelines and statistics. Do not. These are young players — under-18 boys, under-20 girls — navigating the brutal gap between grassroots football and professional ambition in a country where that gap swallows talent whole. The Engen Knockout Challenge is one of the few platforms that gives them visibility, stakes, and a reason to believe the grind is worth it.
Antalyaspor JPM CT and RV United did not just win tournaments on Sunday. They proved that dynasties are not destiny, that national champions can be beaten, and that a team from Wynberg or wherever RV United call home can walk onto the same pitch as the establishment and walk off with the title. In Kenyan football, in African football, in any football — that message lands hard. It should.
The penalty spot does not care about your reputation. Sunday proved it.
