Daine Klate must, somehow or other, be related to Lady Luck.
How else does one explain the remarkable feat the Orlando Pirates winger is on the cusp of achieving, if the Soweto side win the Premier Soccer League (PSL) title on Saturday.
If Pirates do take the championship for the second successive season, it would mean that Klate will become the very first footballer to win a title in the SA top-flight five times in succession. Before Pirates, he was in the SuperSport United squad that won the title for three successive seasons.
In addition, if Klate gets his fifth league winners’ medal, he will join an illustrious band of players who have already done so, which includes Ace Ntsoelengoe, Andre Arendse and David Kannemeyer (this trio, however, did not win their titles consecutively as Klate has done).
It’s a two-horse race going into the final day, with log leaders and defending champions Pirates on 55 points and second-placed Moroka Swallows on 53, with one game to play.
Both title-challengers are away from home on Saturday – the Buccaneers taking on Golden Arrows in Durban and Swallows facing Maritzburg United in Maritzburg.
“Five winners’ medals would be great,” Klate said on Pirates’ website. “I am an ambitious individual and I want to win all the time.
“Over and above the objectives I would like to achieve as an individual, the team goal is the main target as this is a team sport.”
But if the 27-year-old Port Elizabeth-born footballer is to achieve this personal slice of history, his Pirates team first has to negotiate a tough fixture against Arrows.
Arrows coach Muhsin Ertugral is adamant that his men will not just lie down and play dead.
They are determined to make the Buccaneers earn the title.
The Durban team was thrashed 4-1 by Ajax Cape Town over the weekend, but Ertugral wasn’t too concerned about it.
“Don’t worry about that result and performance,” said Ertugral. “We rested many of our regular players, like Collins Mbesuma, Clifford Ngobeni and Elrio van Heerden, for the match against Ajax. These top players will all be back for Pirates. We won’t be giving the title to them, that’s for sure.”
Meanwhile, Ajax are still in with a chance of snatching a place in the top eight of the PSL standings.
Currently ninth on the log (40 points), the Cape side is in a tight race with Bloemfontein Celtic (7th, 41 points) and AmaZulu (8th, 40 points).
The good news for Ajax, ahead of their last fixture against Black Leopards in Polokwane on Saturday, is that they come off that fantastic 4-1 victory over Arrows.
In that match over the weekend, coach Maarten Stekelenburg gave a first start to the emerging Toriq Losper, and the young midfielder turned in a competent, mature performance.
He was composed throughout, kept shape well, and hardly gave the ball away. He certainly looks a decent prospect for the future.
Celtic’s last match is against SuperSport United, while AmaZulu face Kaizer Chiefs.
This week’s PSL fixtures
Tomorrow: Cosmos v Black Leopards
Saturday (all at 3pm): Kaizer Chiefs v AmaZulu; Mamelodi Sundowns v Free State Stars; Santos v Jomo Cosmos (Athlone Stadium); Black Leopards v Ajax Cape Town; Golden Arrows v Orlando Pirates; Platinum Stars v Bidvest Wits; Bloemfontein Celtic v SuperSport United; Maritzburg United v Moroka Swallows