Trio may join Arendse with five titles

MAMELODI Sundowns captain Hlompho Kekana‚ goalkeeper Denis Onyango and injury-hampered striker Anthony Laffor are all one win away from matching former teammate Andre Arendse’s achievement of five Absa Premiership titles.

If Sundowns beat Maritzburg United away today‚ they will effectively be crowned champions for the third time in five years because of their superior goal difference over second-placed Orlando Pirates.

Sundowns will be confirmed as league winners if they emerge victorious from their game against Maritzburg at the Harry Gwala Stadium and Pirates in turn fail to post victory against Bidvest Wits at Orlando Stadium on the same night.

Kekana and Laffor won two titles at SuperSport United in 2009 and 2010 and two in the colours of Sundowns in 2014 and 2016.

Onyango won three back-to-back league titles with SuperSport from 2008 to 2010 and then one more with Sundowns two years ago.

He missed out on Sundowns’ 2014 championship success because the club had loaned him to Wits. Arendse and Onyango were teammates at SuperSport United and shared duties in the 2008 and 2009 title successes.

Arendse won a first league title with Cape Town Spurs in 1995‚ then again with Santos seven years later and Sundowns in 2006.

His record of five individual league titles was broken by Daine Klate last year.

Klate won five titles in a row from 2008 to 2012‚ taking three titles with SuperSport and two more with Orlando Pirates.

His record-setting sixth came last April at Wits. —