Joint leading goalscorer in the Red Stripe Premier League Ryan Miller of UWI FC was at it again on Wednesday, in his team’s 1-1 midweek draw with Humble Lion FC.

The midfielder has been at the top of the goalscoring charts since very early in the season for both his club and the league, and is currently on nine goals after 15 games — a nifty return for someone who isn’t deployed as an out and out striker for his team.

Since his transition from Cavalier SC to The UWI, Miller has found a new lease on life as far as his attacking game goes, and he credits his scintillating start to the season to advice from his coach Marcel Gayle and the fitness regime that he has been on since the start of preseason.

“My coach always tell me one thing, ‘get in the box, because in the box is where goals score’, so I try my best on every counter-attack to get in the box and try get the ball in the back of the net.

“We have a fitness trainer who, from I came to UWI in pre-season his job was to get me fit to play the role of a box-to-box midfielder, and I am happy for it and I thank him for it. It has kept me going and helped me to get the job done,” Miller explained.

He has had a long-standing relationship with his coach, dating back to his days of playing high school football when Gayle was then, and still is, the assistant coach at St George’s College for the Under-19 team and head coach for the Under-16 team.

The 20-year-old Miller says there is no real difference between then and now.

“It is nothing different, it is just the same from high school till now. We text and we call each other and he always has solutions for what I need to do and what not to do,” he shared.

Miller also credits his coach for helping him out of a recent slump in front of goal.

“For about five games I was off and he told me that my game had fallen off and pointed out the things I had stopped doing. So at the moment I am trying my best to maintain the level I am at and remain on top (of the goalscoring charts),” he said.

Familiarity with a lot of the players has helped his bedding in period to be a seamless one at UWI, this along with a playing style that suits him just fine.

“It is a fantastic feeling being here (as) the majority of the players I have known them for a long time. So it’s easy to adapt to the system that they play because they play touch football and I am a touch player as well, so it was not hard to adapt to the system,” Miller outlined.

Like most of his teammates, the UWI man was disappointed in letting the game slip after taking the lead against Humble Lion, but suggested that the overall objective for the season still remains a reasonable target.

“I am very disappointed because a game like this we should capitalise on three points, but at the end of the day that is how football goes. Our expectation is to win the league and everyone here wants to win, so we are going to continue to work until the end,” noted Miller.

After scoring his goal just three minutes after the half-time break, Miller lifted his jersey to reveal a T-shirt bearing an image of someone. He explained to the Jamaica Observer what was behind the move.

“My cousin (Andrew Skeel) passed away last Sunday, so since his death I have decided when I score I will represent for him,” he expressed.

Miller was the sole leader in the goal-scoring charts until he was joined by Fabian Reid of Arnett Gardens, whose brace helped them to rout former champions Montego Bay United 3-0 at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex on Thursday.

It will be interesting to see how the race for the golden boot pans out, with the likes of Javon East of Portmore United and Craig Foster of FC Reno breathing down their necks on eight goals each.