This year ten bands made the trip to the All Ireland Fleadh in Drogheda. In this article we will look at how each section in the competition played out.
Pipe Bands
In this section there were two bands the Crimlin Batafada Band and St Josephs Longstone. This results in this section caused at bit of a stir with many disagreeing with the result. And you could understand why by looking at the Batafada bands drill, their lines weren’t very straight and so people were marching on the wrong foot. The same couldn’t be said about longstone who looked very good marching into the arena. But it was clearly the music that separated these two bands with the mayo band showing more variety and higher quality.
1st Crimlin Batafada Band
2nd St Joseph’s Longstone
Senior Flute
There was only one competitor in this section but the Maghery band would have beaten any band put in front of them. Their drill is just amazing and their music is just as good. They are such a credit to themselves and their community I don’t know how they stay so motivated and sharp when they’ve no one in their competition, they could easily show up and put on an average performance and win anyway. But thats not how this band does it and they don’t put on half a show, so well done!
Junior Accordion
In this section there was again only one competitor which is disapointing as this used to be such a strong competition. Its just sad when so many bands have broken up or have chosen not to come to fleadh anymore. But on Sunday K and S attended the competition and put on a good perfromance from the accordion band. This is the second All Ireland i a row for this band and their 12th All Ireland in their history.
Junior Miscellaneous
This competition had two bands competing in it. The first band was only created in 2017 so it was a credit to them for even being at a good enough standard to get through to the All Ireland and they played very well for such a new band. The winners in this section stood out for their sharp drill routine and it was one of the best of the day. The Cloich Cheann Fhaola band got back to winning ways after losing out at last years All Ireland so its been a very successful year for them.
1st Cloughaneely
2nd Blanchards Town
Senior Miscellaneous
In this section as many of you know controversy caused chaos after the results were announced. The two bands who showed they deserved to win unfortunately didn’t get the result they deserved. Foxford Brass and Reed Band caused fascination by all the spectators who were intrigued by their uniqueness and different style of music. They performed their music to a very high standard and the melodies and harmonies were excellent. The only thing that let them down was their drill and it’s simplicity but that could easily be improved for next year. The two bands who deserved to win were clearly a level above the other bands with their complex and fast paced routines which were performed to perfection and no lines were out of place. The winners of this section did put on a good performance but it wasn’t as good as the other two band who should have won.
1st Ramelton Town Band
2nd Cloich Chenan Fhaola Senior
3rd Donegal town Band
4th Foxford Brass and Reed Band
Tonight we’ll have video highlights and our photo gallery on Facebook and tomorrow we’ll have our Five talking points