Welsh banding maintained its outstanding record of success at Cheltenham with yet another National victory for the remarkable Goodwick organisation.

Despite having to endure a tortuous six and a half hour drive from their home town on the Pembrokeshire coast on Friday evening, Phoenix (Goodwick) put any hint of lingering travel fatigue behind them as they followed in the footsteps of their senior counterparts who won the Second Section in 2013 and the First last year, to claim a deserved title of their own.

Inspired

Inspired by their talented young conductor Luke Jenkins, they took the honours in splendid style — although not to be outdone, his brother Matthew (who conducted Goodwick) took the 'Best Instrumentalist' award to emulate Luke, who won it as principal cornet on their 2015 success!

Initially formed in 2014 as a feeder band with a mix of talented youngsters, returning players and adult learners, Phoenix won the Welsh Area contest earlier this year with a performance that many seasoned observers thought was the best of any qualifier around the country.

And early on Saturday evening they did the same again.

Excellent Cleobury

It also proved good enough to beat an excellent rendition of 'Music from Kantara' from Midlands champion Cleobury Mortimer Concert directed David Maplestone, with London & Southern Counties rivals Hatherleigh Silver led by Matt Green in third.

Just behind came fellow Blackpool qualifiers Thornton Cleveleys, with the second Welsh contender Newport Borough and Crystal Palace from London & Southern Counties making up a high quality top-six.

Cracking performances

Kenneth Downie's set-work may not have had the filmatic scope of Stephen Bulla's earlier in the day, but despite the rather homely title (from a picture of a ruined Cypriot castle hanging on a living room wall) the non-narrative suite brought out a host of cracking performances; rich in colour, texture and excitement from each of the 19 contenders.

However, none was better than Phoenix (Goodwick) in the opinion of the judges Dr Robert Childs and Gary Davies.

'An excellent show — bravo!' wrote the Grimethorpe MD in his remarks, whilst Gary added; 'This was an excellent performance. Well done soloists, band and MD.'

Detail

Before the announcement of the results Dr Childs added further detail to the key elements in their decision making — especially with intonation, which he felt had cost a number of bands a chance of coming higher in the results table.

"The piece really suited this section. Generally there was plenty of fine playing, but the first three bars really showed what preparations the bands had done,"he said.

"The third bar was the first point of focus for us. The second movement was beautiful and the pace and shape was the key, but some bands simply went too fast in the third — it was marked 144 to a furioso 160. They left themselves no room to do that."

It was the question of poor intonation that was the key marker though.

"That was the biggest problem. I could have had a rubber stamp with 'intonation' written on it. Nearly every band had trouble. However, it's a problem that can be sorted out in each rehearsal with a little bit of care and attention."

Bob also praised the cornet players, but perhaps not surprisingly was a little more critical of the euphoniums, who he acknowledged did have the testing opening to the second movement to overcome.

He added: "We sat and listened to the music — not penalising by numbers. It had character in the first movement, emotion in the second and spirit in the third — and the best bands had those elements today."

Solid marker

The contest opened with what appeared to be a very solid marker from Formby, although not so in the minds of the judges, who eventually placed the former champion thirteenth.

Instead it was the North-West champion Thornton Cleveley as the fourth band who provided it, with a highly enjoyable performance under Stephen Craig, whilst Newport pushed the bar a little higher a couple of bands later under Robin Hackett.

Their performance had bags of style but just a few too many minor errors to keep itself in the hunt for a podium finish, although they returned to south Wales delighted by fifth place.

More to come

Before the comfort break Crystal Palace produced a solid, well directed account under Michael Gray to capture sixth, although you suspected that there was still more come from well-fancied rivals in the second half.

That was certainly the case with the trio of Cleobury Mortimer Concert, Hatherleigh and Phoenix (Goodwick) who followed each other on.

The Midlanders were excellent — full value for their runner-up spot, and perhaps just a little unlucky they didn't quite get the nod from the box after a rendition rich in character and controlled vibrancy.

Meanwhile, third placed Hatherleigh also gave a thoroughly engaging account that just got a little over-excited in places, but which was also full of verve and brave risk taking by the MD.

Rose to challenge

That left Phoenix — who rose to the challenge with a spirited opening section leading into a wonderfully languid second movement, cultured and delicately shaped (led by a fine set of soloists) and a rousing finale.

A great deal of the credit should go to their young MD Luke Jenkins, but when he spoke to 4BR he modestly directed it all on his players.

"They deserved this. They love playing in the band and I love conducting them."

He added: "We have come full circle as an organisation in the last twelve years. Goodwick made its debut at Harrogate in 2004 and we couldn't have dreamed it would turn out like this. We now have a third band making great progress too — so who knows what the future holds.

Everyone works so hard and does their bit — from supporters to the committee and every player. My job's the easy one!"

Share praise

Meanwhile, Band Manager Tony Evans made sure the MD and his sibling got their fair share of praise.

"Luke and Matthew inspire our players — from the youngest to the oldest like me!

There is so much to enjoy about what they both do as conductors and players. This is another huge achievement for the band, but there is more to come — starting with the Fishguard contest in a couple of weeks time!"

Just outside the prizes came a host of performances that on another day may well have forced their way into the reckoning — especially from the top-ten finishers Lydney, Lofthouse 2000, Jayess Newbiggin and Knaresborough.

Consistency and some bravura approaches may have cost bands who finished in the midfield placings, whilst those who ended up towards the bottom will still have benefitted greatly from playing a piece that asked demanding, but not unrealistic questions of their skill sets.

None though would have enjoyed their trip home (hopefully in far less time than it took them to get to get here) than the newly crowned champion from the inspirational banding outpost of Goodwick — which is actually closer to Dublin than it is Cardiff, let alone Cheltenham — or a ruined castle on the island of Cyprus!

One thing is for curtain though — wherever they are heading next on their musical journey, they are doing it in truly remarkable fashion.

Results:

Test Piece: 'Music from Kantara' (Kenneth Downie)
Adjudicators: Dr Robert Childs and Gary Davies

1. Phoenix (Goodwick) (Luke Jenkins)
2. Cleobury Mortimer Concert (David Maplestone)
3. Hatherleigh Silver (Matt Green)
4. Thornton Cleveleys (Stephen Craig)
5. Newport Borough (Robin Hackett)
6. Crystal Palace (Michael Gray)
7. Lydney Town (Kevin Ford)
8. Lofthouse 2000 (Andrew Whittaker)
9. Jayess Newbiggin (Andrew Griffiths)
10. Knaresborough Silver (Steve Morland)
11. Moulton '77 (Nicholas Garman)
12. Witney Town (Rhys Owens)
13. Formby (Louise Hough MBE)
14. Brass Sounds Inverclyde (Christopher Mansfield)
15. Castleton Brass (Peter Ryan)
16. Cheltenham Silver (Nigel Galliott)
17. Syston (Chris Banks)
18. Rockingham (Adam Whittle)
19. Dunfermline Town (Andy Shaw)

Best Instrumentalist: Matthew Jenkins (euphonium), Phoenix (Goodwick)

Youngest Player: Angus Paton (Brass Sounds Inverclyde) — 8 years and 2 months