The race for the Golden Boot in the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League has already piqued the interest of the fans of Jamaica’s topflight football, even though only one round of the regular season has been completed.

Seven players are tightly bunched at the top of the goalscoring charts in what could be the most fascinating race in years.

Kimoni Bailey of league leaders Mount Pleasant FA and Warner Brown of second place Arnett Gardens FC are tied at the top of the goal scoring charts on eight goals, while Jalmaro Calvin of defending champions Cavalier FC is just behind them on seven goals.

Brian Bown and Shaniel Thomas of Montego Bay United, Oquassa Chong of Harbour View, and Kimani Arbouine of Arnett Gardens round out the top seven goal scorers in the league with six goals each after 13 matches played. If the players remain on the same trajectory for the remainder of the season, then we could quite possibly see someone getting close to the 30-goal mark if not exceeding it.

Mount Pleasant’s Bailey, who scored in the final match of the round for Mount Pleasant when they defeated Humble Lion 4-1, is hungry for more.

“It's a good feeling to know that I am on top right now, but I am still hungry for more. I have a number, but I am not going to give that number because not reaching that number would be like a failure to me, but I definitely do have a number that I want to reach," Bailey said, adding that his confidence this season is very high.

“It’s 100% better this time around. I’m just trying to stay injury-free and keep working hard. The work we are putting in on the training field... doing extra finishing after training has helped me, but there is still a lot more work to be done. Hard work and focus have gotten me where I am. Once I’m injury-free, I will keep it up,” he promised. 

Kimani Arbouine.

Meanwhile, joint top scorer Brown, who started the league on fire, had to endure a bit of a drought before getting his eighth goal in his team’s penultimate match of the round.

“Being the joint top goal scorer after the first round of the league and Arnett Gardens being a point shy of the top of the table is a remarkable achievement for both me and the club. 

“I am definitely looking forward to maintaining this level and to working even harder to achieve more both individually and with the team. I started the season thinking about the Golden Boot. I know it won’t be easy to win it, but I will continue to work toward it," Brown declared.

Jalmaro Calvin has had to shift his focus between the Caribbean Club Championships and the Premier League but has managed to do so quite well. Having helped his team to win at the regional level, where he was named Best Young Player of the Tournament, Calvin, who hails from Antigua and Barbuda, has continued his rich scoring form.

Calvin admits that he is feeling motivated after his goals return in the first round, along with success achieved by Cavalier in the Caribbean Club Championships.

“It does motivate me, so I must be consistently on top of my game every match, so hopefully at the end of the season I can be the league leading scorer. Winning the Caribbean Cup is one of my biggest achievements, and being named Best Young Player of the Tournament shows that I have been doing well,” he said.

Arbouine has been a consistent goal scorer for Arnett Gardens over the years, and his six goals after the first round suggest that he will be very important to his team’s quest for glory this season.

Brian Brown has rolled back the years at Montego Bay United, and the 31-year-old's six goals have helped them to third in the table and real contenders for the title in quite some while.

His new teammate Shaniel Thomas opted for a new challenge at the start of the season after being a part of the Cavalier setup where he won the JPL title a few seasons ago. Thomas has flourished in his new surroundings, and his six goals are proof of that.

Chong has enjoyed good form in front of goal so far, despite his team’s struggles in the league, as they sit just above the relegation zone in 12th place on 12 points. He will be hoping to continue in the same vein to possibly drag his team away from the danger zone in the second round.