dyton mupawaenda
Tadious Manyepo-Sports Reporter
THEY were banging goals in the Northern Region Division One Soccer League last season and they are among the Golden Boot contenders in the Castle Lager Premiership this season.
Ngezi Platinum Stars top marksman Takunda Benhura feels he should have won the Golden Boot in the Northern Region Division One last year. He has every reason to feel like that.
That prize was picked by Simba Bhora’s Tinashe Balakasi who hit the back of the net 29 times as he helped the Shamva outfit to promotion. Benhura could only manage 13 goals.
But he played only seven games.
At the start of the race, Benhura, who was a new kid on the block for Ngezi Platinum Under-19 led the goal-scoring charts with six goals in the opening four matches.
On the other hand, Balakasi had found the back of the net five times. The race for the Golden Boot looked so intriguing but, charmed by Benhura’s prowess in front of goal, then Ngezi Platinum Stars coach Benjani Mwaruwari decided to promote the 20-year-old into the senior team in the Premiership.
And things took an ugly turn for the Kadoma-born forward. He played just three games in the Premiership, scoring twice before suffering a nasty injury that kept him on the sidelines for over two months.
When he recovered, technical experts at Ngezi Platinum decided that he reverts to the development team once again.
He would play the remaining seven games and he scored once in each of those matches to take his tally to 13 in 11 games in the entire season.
While the mouthwatering feat was enough to upstage every other player in the first division, Balakasi was too far ahead and by the time the curtain came down on the season.
But in a way, the young boy had announced his arrival in the football trenches and his 10 goal tally in the league this season tells a story of an athlete with great potential.
Balakasi is just a goal shy of Benhura but the former only started getting significant minutes in the second half of the season.
He was being overlooked by coach Tonderai Ndiraya who preferred Alex Mandinyenya and Kudakwashe Mangami.
But once Balakasi started getting the goals, Simba Bhora have never looked like the below average team they were in the opening half of the season.
With the top goal scorer in the race, Obriel Chirinda who is on 11 goals, struggling with injuries and the other close contender Fortune Binzi of Manica Diamonds battling form and injury, the real race might be between the two players who were in Division One last season.
“For me, helping Ngezi Platinum Stars win the league title is all that matters,” Benhura said.
“If I manage to win the Golden Boot, that will be great for the team and for me as well.
“Yeah, as for Balakasi being in the same race, well, this is a man I have so much respect for.
“We were in the same race last season but you might already be aware of what happened to me.
“I couldn’t match him for obvious reasons. I am not saying if what happened to me had not happened, I could have managed to win the top scorer’s prize in Division One. But who knows?
“So being in the same race with Balakasi is really an exciting thing for both of us. But I think I have a good chance. Balakasi is a prolific scorer and he could actually win the race”.
Balakasi said Benhura stood a good chance to win the race last season had he not been up and down the tiers and not been injured.
“Benhura was the real competitor I faced last season in my bid to win the top scorer’s award last season in the first division,” said Balakasi. “In the opening weeks of the season, I tried as much as I could but Benhura was always on top. Even in the last seven games he played, he also outscored me.
“That tells you a lot about his scoring touch. To be in competition for the top scorer’s award in the Premiership just a year later is something that makes us feel nice.
“I am aiming to win the Golden Boot as I have always done in the lower division but I have respect for Benhura. I know what he can do with the ball on his feel or above his head with the goal in front of him. “The other players in the race are also good but I am very excited.”
Online Reporter