Coalburn Silver finish the day with a First Section flourish

Rounding off the first day’s proceedings at the Scottish Championships was the First Section in which the test piece was A Day in the Life of a Knight by Philip Lawrence.

After their stint in the Second Section, adjudicators John Ward and Sandy Smith were back in the box to cast judgement on the nine competing bands.

John said it was an extremely close decision separating the top three places while Sandy reiterated that the standard of brass banding in Scotland was getting better and better.

Their final assessment was that Coalburn Silver, under the direction of Gareth Bowman, on 190 points took the ultimate honours. In the runner-up position was Bathgate, conducted by Mareika Gray, on 189 points and in third place was The Kirkintilloch Band, directed by Hedley Benson, on 188 points.

The best instrumentalist was Coalburn Silver’s principal cornet Calum Blair. The Thomas Macaulay Memorial Trophy for the best tenor horn was won by Bathgate Band’s Louise McCauley.

As with the previous two sections, the top two bands will be invited to participate in the National Finals in Cheltenham on 16 and 17 September.

The full results of the First Section are:

1. Coalburn Silver (Gareth Bowman) 190 pts
   2. Bathgate (Mareika Gray) 189 pts
   3. The Kirkintilloch Band (Hedley Benson) 188 pts
   4. Newtongrange Silver (Anne Crookston) 186 pts
   5. Lochgelly (Chris Shanks) 185 pts
   6. Dunaskin Doon (Paul Drury) 184 pts
   7. Granite City Brass (Bruce Wallace) 183 pts
   8. Tullis Russell Mills (George Cameron) 182 pts
   9. Newmains & District (Mike Marzella) 181 pts