Lamontville Golden Arrows took a step closer to an unwanted club record following Sunday’s 2-1 home DStv Premiership defeat to Orlando Pirates.

Abafana Bes’thende have now lost their last six games in a row, their worst run since they had seven defeats on the trot in a 2013/14 campaign that ended in relegation.
That was, in fact, part of a run of 21 defeats in 27 games (W6) in all competitions during a horror season.

Their run of seven straight losses between March and April 2014 included defeats to University of Pretoria (2-4), Mpumalanga Black Aces (1-2), Moroka Swallows (0-1), Mamelodi Sundowns (1-4), BidVest Wits (0-1), Kaizer Chiefs (0-2) and Maritzburg United (0-1).

It was finally ended by a 2-2 draw at Ajax Cape Town (now Cape Town Spurs) and they actually went on a run of four games unbeaten (W2 D2) after that, but it was not enough to avoid relegation as they finished on 21 points for the season, eight from safety.

Their current run of five defeats in a row has been a real blow to coach Mabhuti Khenyeza after his side had made a superb start to the season. Perhaps the exit of his co-coach Vusi Vilakazi in September has had an effect on the team.

Next up for them is a tough home clash on Saturday against a TS Galaxy side who may be sitting third-bottom of the league, but are much better than that position suggests.

The teams have met on seven previous occasions, which has included four draws. Galaxy won the last meeting though with a thumping 4-0 home success and also claimed victory in their very first clash, a Nedbank Cup semifinal in 2019 when the Mpumalanga club were still campaigning in the second-tier.

Arrows’ only victory over Galaxy was a 3-0 home win in 2021.