Top 3 U18 Tournament — Engen Knockout Challenge Build-Up | June 2026
Pearls United’s Mokwepa Boys won a three-team U18 round-robin against PowerBoys FC and Double Action Wanderers FC, posting back-to-back wins to top the table and put down the freshest competitive marker of the Paarl side’s Engen Knockout Challenge build-up. Mokwepa Boys put five past Double Action Wanderers in their opener, then beat PowerBoys 4-1 in the deciding match — nine goals scored, two conceded across the two games they featured in. The tournament’s own framing — “Preparation to Engen 2026” — sits in the bottom panel of the official result card, making clear what the next milestone on the calendar is.
How the matches played out
Game 1 was PowerBoys’ day, the Power Boys FC side edging Double Action Wanderers 2-1 in the opening fixture. Game 2 was where Mokwepa Boys entered the picture, brushing past Double Action Wanderers 5-1 — a five-goal U18 return is a statement, however the goals broke down. Game 3 was the de-facto final between the two sides still in contention, and Mokwepa Boys took PowerBoys 4-1 to seal a clean sweep of their fixtures. PowerBoys finished with one win and one loss for three points, Double Action Wanderers without a point, and the Pearls United U18s with the maximum six.
What the scorelines say
Two games, two wins, nine goals scored, two conceded. For a U18 side ramping into a knockout window, that profile — heavy at one end, tidy at the other — is the kind of read coaches actually use. The bigger Double Action Wanderers margin will draw the eye, but the 4-1 win over PowerBoys is the more useful data point, since PowerBoys had already taken three points from Double Action. Mokwepa Boys beat the side that had beaten the other side, and they did it by three.
On the road to Engen 2026
The Engen Knockout Challenge is the showcase platform for the U18 ages in this part of South African grassroots football, and the Pearls United programme — founded in 2022 under the “Humble and Gracious” tag — has been pointing its calendar at the 2026 edition through a deliberate ramp. Last week brought open trials at Vaalrivier High; this week brings competitive minutes in a Top 3 tournament and a clean sweep against two established outfits in PowerBoys (founded January 2010) and Double Action Wanderers (founded 2020). The closing line on the result card — “Up and Press” — captures the mood the coaches are trying to lock in before the Engen fixtures arrive.
