UPTON remain confident of being crowned Midlands Three West (South) champions next April after remaining unbeaten so far this season.

Rob Heeley’s side have maintained their 100 per cent record this term with eight wins from eight matches.

This fine early-season form has seen them sit top of the table by six points from second-placed Newbold.

But Upton’s bid to make it nine victories in a row was halted by the wintry weather when Saturday’s home clash with Southam was postponed.

The previous week, Upton progressed to the Midlands Senior Vase semi-final after beating Rugby St Andrews 33-12, a display which included five tries.

This victory puts them three games away from a Twickenham final and serves as a bonus for them in an already memorable campaign.

Upton hope to return to action tomorrow when they host Woodrush (ko 2.15pm).

Upton manager Heeley highlighted the form of fly-half Chris O’Neil and also the training methods of their head coach Oli Banwell.

He said: “We are confident we can win the title.

“We have obviously had a great start, winning all our games so far.

“We haven’t played everyone yet but will have done so by Christmas so we’ll have a better idea by then.

“So far, we have only had minor injuries but the big thing for us is the squad.

“We have a genuine 23-man squad and only once this season, against Harbury away when the captain Dan Keyte got married, did we struggle to fill the 18-man match-day squad with some of those 23 players.

“Therefore, we are confident every week that our squad is better than the opposition and gives us the confidence to play well.

“All the new lads we have signed, mainly from Malvern, have all added something extra. Alex Pimlow, as always keeps scoring tries but, for me, Chris O’Neil has stood out, mainly for his place kicking.

“He is very consistent and is keeping us in games and also allowing us to create winning margins by continually sticking the kicks over.

“Our head coach Oli Banwell’s pre-season aims were certainly to win the league. He was very confident that if we got everyone playing, we would be a struggle to beat and so far he’s been proven right.

“It can’t be underestimated how good a coach Oli is.

“His training methods and ideas are excellent and keep you interested.

“We really are moving on under Oli and hopefully can retain him by winning things this year and allowing us, and him, to move to a new level.

“We struggled up front last week against Rugby St Andrews and the opposition tried to intimidate us but we basically ran them off the park.”