Looking back at last years result and officially last years ‘Ulster Senior Miscellaneous’ winners were Ramelton Town Band, thats what was posted on Ulster Fleadh website. But anyone who was there knows that two winners were called out at the competition last year, Holy Cross Atticall being the other band, this led to a lot of controversy at the time and importantly they were completely omitted from the Ulster Fleadh results yet competed at the All Ireland three weeks later. Its all a bit confusing we’ve contacted Comhaltas Ireland for a comment on this over two weeks ago but they have not replied to us.
This weekend we have three bands in the Senior Miscellaneous section competing for just two All Ireland spots. In this article we will look at each band and their chances of making it through. As we explained yesterday the fleadh rules have changed and that makes it extremely unlikely that the third placed band will make it through, however not impossible. So this represents a real challenge for these three bands, one none of them will have faced recently. Usually at the Ulster there’s maybe one or two bands in each section at the most and its straight forward that everyone gets through but this year the Fleadh judges will have to dump someone out for the first time in at least a decade.
Ramelton Town band are arguably the most experienced miscellaneous band in this section, winning five All Ireland titles in a row until 2016. This fact alone would probably make them the favourites in this competition. Last year at the All Ireland they came second but just narrowly lost out on the All Ireland title. This year they will be fighting for the chance to get revenge on their Donegal neighbours at the All Ireland who stopped them winning their sixth All Ireland in a row, so this motivaton will play on their minds when their in Castlewellan on Sunday.
Donegal Town Band have decided to make the step up to Senior Miscellaneous this year, after winning the Junior All Ireland last year. This is the first year they’ve entered the Senior competition and after winning four Junior All Irelands they clearly feel the time is right to make the big jump. However they’ve really made the transition at one of the most competitive times, in 2016 there was only one Senior Miscellaneous band at the All Ireland and none in the Ulster, this year there’s three in Ulster and possibly five in Drogheda at the All Ireland. Although this may be a big challenge, if successful it would be historic.
Lastly we have Holy Cross Band Atticall, recently they have become a dominant force in the Senior Accordion section and rose to fame throughout Ireland with their unique music, but with a dwindling Accordion competition last year they decided to compete in the Senior Miscellaneous for the first time ever. This was not a resounding success for them, controversy surrounded their entry with rules and qualification being questioned by many. But this year they will aim to win the Ulster and actually be named in the results this time. This is achievable for them if they have used last years experience to better themselves.
Tomorrow we will have predictions for Sundays competition, so come back tomorrow to find out who we think will win and why!
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