Whitburn Band claimed the Scottish Open title for a record equalling fifth time in Perth on the weekend, with a hat-trick success led by professional MD Prof Nicholas Childs.

The Black Dyke Director of Music certainly inspired the defending champion to produce an outstanding rendition off the early number 6 draw of their own-choice selection 'Journey of the Lone Wolf' — one that made for 'an easy decision' according to judges Russell Gray and Sandy Smith when it came to the results.

3 point margin

That was reinforced by the clear-cut 3-point margin of victory they awarded them over 14 top flight rivals as Whitburn enjoyed their celebrations with the trophy, £1,500 and a Prestige euphonium provided by event sponsors Besson long into the Perth night.

It was also a victory that certainly pleased Prof Childs when speaking to 4BR. "That was a classy win, and all the credit goes to the players and especially conductor Raymond Tennant who did so much of the preparation ground work,"he said.

"All the soloists were excellent and the ensemble playing was perfectly balanced and controlled. It was real pleasure to lead Whitburn on stage and it was a great way for them to round off the year."

Evocative portrait

Few would disagree given the substantial margin of victory over well beaten rivals, as they delivered an evocative portrait of 'Lone Wolf' Bela Bartok full of cultured solo contributions and solid ensemble backing.

Whitburn's success also maintained a remarkable domestic record of achievement; marking the 15th consecutive time they have claimed a podium finish on home soil. However, as Band Secretary John Fraser told 4BR, they now hoped that 2017 will also see a return to contest success south of Hadrian's Wall.

Major aims

"That's one of the major aims for 2017,"he said. "It was so good to hear the judges say that we had made the decision easy for them, but the performance also shows we are more than capable of doing very well at contests away from Scotland."

The results also saw delight for Dalmellington led by the evergreen Richard Evans, as they came second with their rendition of 'Time Machine' by Thomas Doss, recording their best ever return at the event in the process.

Cross border battle

Meanwhile, the final podium place in an enjoyable cross border battle went to North West contenders Rainford led by Gareth Brindle, after their number 2 draw renditin of 'Dances & Alleluias' was enhanced by the wonderful contribution of principal cornet Movern Sinclair, who took the 4BR 'Best Instrumentalist' Award.

The top-six places in the prize list were eventually evenly split between the two 'auld enemies', with Wingates ('Journey of the Lone Wolf'), Co-operative Funeralcare ('Triumph of Time') and East London Brass ('As if a voice were in them...') gaining mentions from the stage.

Contrasts

And whilst victory for Whitburn rounded off an inconsistent contest year on a high, it was very much the opposite for their oldest rivals Co-operative Funeralcare as they slumped to their worse Scottish Open result since 2005.

In contrast, the happy smiles on the faces of Dalmellington's players and supporters reflected their success in claiming a second successive podium finish at the contest, whilst Rainford, Wingates and East London Brass left for home more than pleased that their performances more than held their own against a quality field of rivals and continued to show the solid top flight progress that are making under their talented MDs.

Behind them however, the usual problems associated with inconsistency of execution, lack of concentration and some over ambitious choices proved costly — points that both judges said they made a mention of on more than a couple of occasions in their written remarks.

That was a classy win, and all the credit goes to the players and especially conductor Raymond Tennant who did so much of the preparation ground workProf Nicholas Childs

Results:

Adjudicators: Russell Gray & Sandy Smith

1. Whitburn (Prof Nicholas Childs) — 196
2. Dalmellington (Richard Evans) — 193
3. Rainford (Gareth Brindle) — 191
4. Wingates (Paul Andrews) — 190
5. Co-op Funeralcare (Nigel Boddice MBE) — 189
6. East London Brass (Jayne Murrill) — 188
7. Kirkintilloch Kelvin Brass (Charles Keenan) — 187
8. Newtongrange Silver (Andrew Duncan) — 186
9. Unison Kinneil (Craig Anderson) — 184
10. NASUWT Riverside (David Roberts) — 182
11. Kingdom Brass (Paul Drury) — 181
12. Bon-Accord Silver (Steve Malcolm) — 180
13. Blackburn & Darwen (Huw Thomas) — 178
14. Kirkintilloch Band (Allan Ramsay) — 177
15. Fishburn Band (Joe Cook) — 176

4barsrest Best Instrumentalist Award: Morvern Sinclair (principal cornet) — Rainford