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Post Match Analysis:
West of England Regional Championships 2002
Second Section:
The Colston Hall, Bristol
Saturday 6th April
Adjudicator: Michael Fowles
Commences: 10.00am
Results:
1. Torbay Brass (C. Waller): 4 191
2. Bendix Kingswood (K. White): 13 189
3. Gillingham Imperial Silver (G. Lewis): 15 188
4. Chalford (S. Tubb): 16 187
5. Lanner and District Silver (S. Chappel): 3 186
6. Lympstone South West Telecoms (C. Fleming): 5 185
7. Phoenix Brass (Crewkerne) (G. Greenstock): 8 184
8. City of Winchester Brass (Major Chris Davies): 11 183
9. St. Pinnock (M. Medin): 12 182
10. Launceston Town (tba): 14 181
11. South Molton Town (Lt. Col. C. Ross): 1 180
12. Bath Spa (D. Walker): 6 179
13. Corsham (Mike Knapton): 2 178
14. Bugle Silver (D. Pope): 9 177
15. Jersey Premier Brass (T. Pritchard): 7 176
16. Wincanton Silver (D. Shead): 10 175
Top two qualify
It appears that Michael Fowles is not a man to be rushed when it
comes to making important decisions; and he certainly kept the eager
Championship audience waiting as he took the welcome decision to
look over his notes a few times to ensure that he was satisfied
that he had placed not only the top bands, but those further down
the listings in the right places. Whether everyone agreed with him
is a moot point, but it is nice to see a judge taking the time to
ensure that he is 100% certain in his own minds eye to the validity
of his decision making process.
He also made a very neat and tidy summation of the piece and its
problems and he stated that all MD’s had taken a sensible approach
to the tempos, and that the music itself was in essence chamber
music for brass, in which he felt that it was a prerequisite for
him that bands made the music “sing”. Those at the top
end he felt sorted themselves out without too much of a problem,
but below them, it was a bit more difficult – hence the time
spent waiting. The difference between the band that came third and
the one that came second was slight and was decided on the “slip
rate”.
With that all taken into account it was Torbay Brass that won the
day off the number 4 spot with a performance that was never really
challenged until Bendix Kingswood (who we tipped for the top place
in our pre match analysis) took the stage at number 13. Both gave
fine renditions of the piece, with Torbay a short head above their
rivals, but both will travel to the Finals in with a very good chance
of doing very well.
Just below them in third spot came a slightly disappointed Gillingham
Imperial Silver, who will be kicking themselves a little for the
little slips and blips that cost them a weekend in Torquay, whilst
4th placed Chalford (who we tipped for the second spot in the pre
match run through) followed them on stage and also gave a fine solid
account of themselves and the piece, that just couldn’t quite
rise enough to challenge any higher.
Lanner and District came a decent and well deserved 5th (one below
what we tipped), whilst Lympstone South West Telecoms took the final
spot to be announced from the stage in 6th. These bands played immediately
before and after the eventual winners and it proved a worthwhile
trio of performances that really did highlight the slight, but telling
differences between the bands that miss out and the band that had
the class to win.
Below this it was the usual tale of too many slips, lack of detail
and over blowing that cost Phoenix, City of Winchester, St. Pinnock
and Launceston Town their chances and they had to be content with
being placed 7th to 10th, whilst those below this had even more
of the above problems, only with tuning discrepancies to add on,
and subtract from their points totals. Thus, South Molton, Bath
Spa, Corsham and Bugle found that they filled the bottom third rather
than top third of the prize list. Finally, Jersey Premier and Wincanton
Silver held up the field, and without too many complaints. Better
luck next time around we hope.
© 4BarsRest
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