Online Reporter
Bruce Chikuni-Sports Reporter
THE Castle Lager Premiership first round of the season can be deceiving, particularly to those who lead the Golden Boot race.
MWOS forward Billy Veremu and Washington Navaya have emerged as joint leaders of this race in the first 17 games of the campaign.
The final lap of this race will resume this week with this duo having 10 goals apiece.
But the second half of the season has not been easy for strikers who prove to be outstanding in the first half in recent seasons.
Fortune Binzi, Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya, Nyasha Chintuli and Evans Katema are some of the players who faltered in the last lap.
Veremu clocked double figures for the first time in his career on Sunday.
Unfortunately, his milestone was overshadowed by his teams’ 1-3 loss at the hands of Ngezi Platinum.
This was their first defeat of the season.
They have ended the first round of the campaign a point behind leaders, Simba Bhora, who are on 35 points.
Navaya has been shouldering the scoring burden for TelOne.
This is not a small feat for someone who had a forgettable stint with Highlanders where he clearly flopped.
His switch to TelOne had some suggesting that he was going to just add up numbers.
But, he now appears to be the favourite to take home the Golden Boot, at least for now.
Noone knows the spark that has been driving Navaya but TelOne can only hope that their man does not end up cursing the same bad fortune that stalled Binzi.
The Gweru side are seven points off the pace and they are coming from a 1-0 win against Scottland.
Ngwenya appears to have shrugged off the demons which were making it difficult for him to hit the mark.
He has recorded seven goals this campaign.
Ngwenya was also on target in their clash against Dynamos, which was abandoned in the late stages.
The goal could have taken his tally to eight.
Meanwhile, Simba Bhora goalie, William Thole is enjoying a comfortable lead in the Golden Glove race, having recorded 11 clean sheets in 17 matches.
His closest rival, Martin Mapisa of MWOS, has managed nine.
Last season’s winner Donovan Bernard of Chicken Inn is also in the picture with eight despite his team performing below par.
