Gora goes for Golden Boot

MOGOMOTSI MOLOI
Correspondent | Friday April 13, 2007 00:00

 

Interestingly, while his TAFIC side is struggling, Gora is within striking distance in his mission to win the award. He has netted 12 of the 23 Mascom Premier League goals scored by the club. This means he is third top scorer behind Tshepiso 'Sox' Molwantwa of Notwane and Malepa 'Chippa' Bolelang. Importantly, Gora's 12 goals are only two shy of Molwantwa who is currently undergoing a slump while Bolelang is only ahead of the Zimbabwean striker with a single strike.

 

Gora is posing a serious threat as he rarely leaves the field without a goal even if his team has lost. He knows that winning the award would be a plus for him considering that his club is not good in providing incentives due to lack of sponsor. 'I am happy to be among the strikers in Botswana campaigning for top goal scorer. I would try hard to score more goals so that I win the award,' he said.

 

Gora is not new to the race for top scorer. He said he has been top scorer on a number of occasions with different clubs in his country. The 28-year-old striker grew up in the outskirts of Harare in Zimbabwe and played for three Premier League sides-Tongogara, Lancashire and Black Rhinos before he signed with TAFIC. He was the best player at Tongogara, most disciplined player at Lancashire and top goal scorer more than once at Rhinos.

 

Besides the battle for the award, he said he is feeling the pressure to help TAFIC end the league in top eight bracket. He concedes that he was signed on condition that he delivers and his aim is to protect his job and to develop as a player.

 

He feels immense pressure at Matjimenyenga because foreign players are signed on the basis that they improve the fortunes of their teams and this is what he is striving hard to do. When he joined Francistown's oldest club at the beginning of the season, Gora struggled to find the back of the net. But he is happy that even though the team is inconsistent, at least he can do what he is being paid for-scoring goals. He is one of the best headers Matjimenyenga has ever had.

 

He explained that the reason why most of his goals are headers is that TAFIC does not have a creative midfielder to deliver passes. 'Most players at TAFIC play different football and a majority of them are inexperienced, which makes it difficult for us to combine.' He added that when he gets to the field, he means business but some of his mates tend to disappoint him. With the arrival of countrymen Robert Tamba and Mlamuli Phikathi, he hopes that things would improve. The player laments that the TAFIC squad changes in every game and it becomes hard to find a partner or someone to combine well with upfront.

 

He said he has played with Tamba at Black Rhinos and they understand each other. It was a dream come true when he got an offer from TAFIC after unsuccessful trials in Namibia. He said as a young player, he wished to play professional football and he is on the verge of taking his game to the next level. 'While I was a small boy, my father used to take me to the stadium to watch Dynamos, Zimbabwean football powerhouse, and I was inspired,' recalls the first born in a family of seven. He said growing up in a small town of Chegatu near Harare made it possible for him to watch topflight football. He says his role model is Thierry Henry of Arsenal. He tries to emulate the French player in the field.