Online Reporter
Onward Gangata [email protected]
REIGNING Soccer Star of the Year, Washington Navaya, underlined his pedigree as one of the best finishers in the league when he scored a brace in Hardrock’s 3-0 win against Manica Diamonds on Saturday.
The brace put the striker’s tally at 14 goals, just three shy of the 17 he scored last season when he won the top goal scorer award.
He now stands clear at the top of the goal scorers’ charts, three more than Dynamos’ Frank Agyemang, who has 11 goals.
Navaya needs at least four goals to surpass the 17 he got last season with eight matches before the season ends.
Should he match or surpass his last season’s tally, he will become the first player in recent memory to have won the top goal scorer award and gone on to match or better it the following season.
Some previous top goal scorers have failed to carry their form into the following season.
Last season, Lynoth Chikuwa struggled to reach the same levels that saw him win the coveted accolade while featuring for Highlanders.
“It was not easy in the past matches going on a drought, but many thanks to my teammates for the help in getting the brace,” he said.
The former Highlanders and TelOne striker is also chasing the late Norman Maroto’s record of 22 goals in a season.
Maroto won the top goal scorer award in 2010 as his goal-scoring prowess helped Gunners win the league title.
However, the record has firmly stood for 16 years, and Navaya has his eyes on becoming the modern-day goal-scoring king in local football.
“I think if I keep working hard it is possible, only God knows, but when I look at the form that I am in, if I keep working hard, I can surprise a lot of people,” added the gangly striker.
