The Golden Arrows Herald
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Nhlanhla Zwane pops up at the right end — 7.97
7.97, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Real improvement from Connor Wilson at Golden Arrows
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Connor Wilson is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Golden Arrows
Sbonelo Cele and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match19 Dec 2026
Golden Arrows see off Jomo Cosmos
Three points for Golden Arrows, 2‑1 the final word against Jomo Cosmos in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Dumisani Msibi
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Golden Arrows
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thabo Matlaba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
One of those days for Velemseni Ndwandwe
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.25, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Teboho Tau, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Lungelo Dube
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
In brief
- The dugout Lungelo Dube gets picked when it counts
- Looking ahead Thabo Matlaba faces his old club
- Market No place for Connor Wilson in the plan