Chetwood in sizzling form

Former champions Chetwood Memorial Primary School have been making a powerful statement in the Victoria Mutual Building Society St James Under-13 football competition.

Chetwood has so far scored 26 goals in three games, including a record-breaking 18 in one game.

Strikers Dane Buckley and Braxton Richards are on six goals each and seem to have launched a friendly rivalry in the race for the coveted golden boot.

Chetwood, which is contesting Zone E of the 31-team competition, which features six zones, started the season with a 3-1 win against Farm Primary. In their second game, they were more impressive, blanking Tower Hill 5-0.

They then followed up with a record-breaking 18-0 win over Eagle New Day Preparatory School.

"The team is more balanced than last year's team in terms of our defensive and attacking strengths," said coach Timothy Graham.

Graham, who is confident of wrestling the title from defending champions Granville Primary School, said that a great deal of hard work and sacrifices have gone into, the team's preparation, and he strongly believes that come the end of the season, the team will be gaining a third hold on the coveted VMBS title.

"We have our next game against Mt Salem Primary on Friday, and we are expecting another big performance," said Graham.

Hopeton Gilchrist, the competition's coordinator, is not getting carried away by Chetwood's impressive showing and is of the view that come the quarter-final round, the action will intensify as the teams begin to reach peak form.

"The season has been going very well so far, and we are very pleased about that," said Gilchrist. "The teams have been very disciplined and the youngsters are playing very well."