Clean Sweep at Craigavon Championships

Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band

Clean Sweep at Craigavon Championships

Field Marshal Montgomery enjoyed a clean sweep of first prizes at the Craigavon & District Championships on Saturday 20th June.

The band enjoyed an emphatic win with 7 first places, including wins in both the MSR and Medley competitions, as well as the best piping, best drum corps and best bass section prizes.

“A fantastic day at the office!” Drum Sergeant Keith Orr shared his delight after the contest. “I was really pleased with two excellent performances today as it is demanding to play twice in the one day. I am delighted to win both the MSR and Medley drumming prizes and best bass section. The corps has been playing very well all year and the bass section continues to add a very effective musical dynamic to the band.”

Lead Tenor Drummer Andrew Elliott added, “I am very proud of our win today. We have worked extremely hard all year, focusing very much on the musical presentation and tonal intonation of our performances, and I am very pleased with the final result.”

The competition is held in the beautiful grounds of Lurgan Park. The warm and sunny conditions attracted many bands and spectators from across the North and South of Ireland.

The band performed their No. 1 MSR – Brigadier Ronald Cheape of Tiroran, Blair Drummond and Pretty Marion – and their No. 1 “Wee Bit Out of the Ordinary” Medley.

PM Richard Parkes MBE remarked, “We are playing very well as a band just now and I was delighted to come away with a win. I keep saying it, but the Grade 1 competition is closer than it has ever been, so we don’t take any contests or results for granted. This is a very busy period in the season with three major championships just weeks apart. Whilst today’s results were truly fantastic, our focus is now very much on next week’s contest at the European Championships.”

The band’s winning medley performance can be viewed below.
[Recording Credit: Crazy Red]

FMM’s sponsors, R.G. Hardie & Co. Ltd, of which Pipe Sergeant Alastair Dunn is Managing Director, donated a set of pipes to the charity raffle with all proceeds going to the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice. Congratulations to the winner, Mark Baxter, and the RSPBA NI Branch who raised over £2,500 for this very worthy charity.

Lurgan Al

This coming weekend will see the band travel to Forres, in the north of Scotland, for the European Pipe Band Championships.

1 comment

  1. Yaggie Sampson - June 24, 2015 7:39 pm

    Well done

    Reply

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