2006 London and Southern Counties Regional Championships - Second Section

This is a difficult one – and we are not just talking about the test piece either. Who will get the nod from Chris Wormald here then?

Saturday 18th March
Adjudicator: Chris Wormald
Test Piece: Images of the Millennium – Howard Snell
Commences: 2.00pm
Draw:  1.00pm

No photo? Please send a JPEG to:  general@4barsrest.com stating the conductors name, your band, your region and section. 

Betteshanger Welfare
Conductor: D. Burridge

Last Ten Years:
2005: 8th (D. Burridge)
2004: 6th (D. Burridge)
2003: 14th (D. Burridge)
2002: 16th 1st Section (K. Dennison) (rel)
2001: 8th (K. Dennison)
2000: 13th (G. Harvey)
1999: 11th
1998: 8th
1997: N/K
1996: 3rd

Betteshanger recovered somewhat both in 2004 and last year here, but they are still it seems a little way off from recovering their place back in the First Section. 8th place twelve months ago showed some promise but they will have to up their game a little to make more of a mark. Wait and see then.  

Brighton and Hove City Brass
Conductor: J. Williams

Last Ten Years:
2005: 12th (C. Aberg)
2004: 13th (E. Flood)
2003: 3rd (E. Flood)
2002: 7th (E. Flood)
2001: 8th (E. Flood)
2000: 11th 1st Section (E. Flood) (rel)
1999: 12th 1st Section
1998: 12th 1st Section
1997: Winners
1996: 10th 3rd Section (prom)

Brighton hasn't really recovered the form they used to show here under Estelle Flood and sine her last appearance in 2004 they have struggled somewhat. 12th place last time out was a bit better than 2004 but they will need to up their game somewhat under their new MD if they are to make more of an impression. 

Capital Concert Brass
Conductor: J. Morahan

Last Ten Years:
2005: 7th (J. Morahan)
2004: 7th (D. Muir)
2003: 11th (D. Muir)
2002: 14th 1st Section (E. Campbell) (rel)
2001: DNC

Capital Concert are starting to look like they are moving back in the right direction here, after finding it hard work in 2003 when they could only manage 11th place. Two consecutive 7th places shows promise and if they can just push on from here they may well be confident of picking up a qualification place. 
 

Cawston
Conductor: Colin Swaep

Last Ten Years:
2005: 3rd (C. Swaep)
2004: 12th (C. Sweap)
2003: 4th (G. Barber)
2002: 9th (C. Swaep)
2001: 10th (A. Broadbent)
2000: 3rd (A. Broadbent)
1999: 11th
1998: 5th 3rd Section (prom)
1997: N/K
1996: 3rd 3rd Section

Cawston are enjoying themselves at the moment and are a very busy band. They are also enjoying themselves on the contest stage too and just missed out last year on a place at the Finals. If they can repeat their performance of a twelve month ago they should be up there come the results. 

Denham Hendon Brass
Conductor: G. Davies

Last Ten Years:
2005: 15th in First Section (rel) (G. Davies)
2004: 15th (G. Davies)
2003: 6th (G. Davies)
2002: 15th (P. Cox)
2001: 11th Championship (D. Richards) (rel)
2000: 10th Championship (N/K)
1999: 8th (prom)
1998: 4th
1997: 3rd
1996: 8th Championship (rel)

Denham Hendon took a year to find their feet in the First Section in 2002 when they came 15th, but in 2004 they improved on that greatly when they jumped up the prize table to come 6th. In the past two years though they struggled at the higher level and they fell through the relegation trap door after coming 15th for a second consecutive year.

East London Brass
Conductor: D. Shead

Last Ten Years:
2005: 5th (S. Earley)
2004: 8th (S. Earley)
2003: 7th in Third Section (prom) (S. Early)
2002: 3rd (A. Caldon)
Prior to this they competed as Waltham Forest Co-op Band.

East London Brass have had a pretty meteoric start to their contesting life at these Championships, after coming 3rd in 2001 and 7th in 2003 when they gained promotion. Over the past two years they have more than held their own here and are making further progress towards the First Section. 5th twelve months ago they will be hoping for even better things this time as well.  

Egham
Conductor: G. Green

Last Ten Years:
2005: 11th in First Section (rel) (G. Green)
2004: 17th (G. Green)
2003: 8th (G. Green)
2002: 6th (G. Green)
2001: 6th (G. Green)
2000: 9th (G. Green)
1999: 2nd 2nd Section (prom)
1998: 5th 2nd Section
1997: N/K
1996: 7th 2nd Section

Egham dropped through the relegation trap door last year after putting in their second poorish performance here in a row when they came 11th. Relegation on the back of that though may seem a bit harsh and we are sure they will be looking to bounce back straight away. We will wait and see if they can do just that, but they did come 13th at Butlins so that may give you some idea. 

Epping Forest
Conductor: M. Easener

Last Ten Years:
2005: 6th (M. Easener)
2004: 16th First Section (M. Easener) (rel)
2003: 13th (M. Easener)
2002: 12th
2001: 10th
2000: 14th
1999: 6th 2nd Section (prom)
1998: 4th 2nd Section
1997: 4th 2nd Section
1996: 9th 2nd Section

Epping have been falling away from the pace in recent years here, but last year they stopped the rot somewhat by putting in a very solid if unspectacular performance to home in 6th place.  That should prove to be a good starting point for better things ahead and if they can push on a little more a qualification place could be within their grasp. 

Fairlop Brass
Conductor: K. Jordan

Last Ten Years:
2005: 13th in First Section (rel) (K. Jordan)
2004: 11th (K. Jordan)
2003: 13th (K. Jordan)
2002: 7th (K. Jordan)
2001: 12th (K. Jordan)
2000: 6th (K. Jordan)
1999: 10th
1998: 2nd 2nd Section (prom)
1997: 2nd 2nd Section
1996: 12th 2nd Section

Fairlop have had something of an unpredictable series of results here over the past few years but in the last couple of years they have fallen away somewhat and after gaining a lowly 13th place in the First Section last year they fell through the relegation trap door. Hopefully they can show the type of form that they showed at this level before when they came runners up here in two consecutive years at the end of the 1990's.  

Grimsdyke Brass
Conductor: S. Broughall

Last Ten Years:
2005: 5th (S. Broughall)
2004: 4th (S. Broughall)
2003: Withdrew (rel) (K. Ransom)
2002: DIS
2001: 7th (K. Ransom)
2000: 6th (K. Ransom)
1999: 9th
1998: 16th 1st Section (rel)
1997: N/K
1996: 5th

Since those two extraordinary years when Grimsdyke seem to have everything but take part happening to them, they have shown good quality form here at the contest and came 4th in 2004 and 5th last year. If they can repeat that type of form again then another top six place may be the least of their ambitions. 

Hitchin
Conductor: Ian Graves

Last Ten Years:
2005: 2nd in Third Section (prom) (M. Hurrell)
2004: 10th (G. Carney)
2003: 5th (G. Carney)
2002: 7th (G. Carney)
2001: 9th (G. Carney)
2000: 13th 2nd Section (G. Carney)  (rel)
1999: 15th 2nd Section (G. Carney)
1998: 9th 2nd Section  (G. Carney)
1997: 10th 2nd Section (B. Rumford)
1996: 14th 1st Section (rel) (A. Widger)

Hitchin are a band moving in the right direction it seems and last year they put in a very good performance here that saw them secure a well deserved runners up spot and a place at Harrogate. There they came 17th under Martin Hurrell. A new MD this time and they will be looking to make a mark at the higher level first time out for sure.    

Jersey Premier Brass
Conductor: Tim Pritchard

Last Ten Years:
2005: Winners of Third Section (prom) (G. Saynor)
2004: 13th (T. Pritchard)
2003: 17th 3rd Section (T. Pritchard) (West of England)
2002: 15th 2nd Section (T. Pritchard) (West of England)
2001: DNC
2000: 14th 2nd Section (T. Pritchard) (West of England)
1999: 4th 2nd Section (West of England)

What a fantastic 2005 for Jersey. Winners here of the Third Section and a long and expensive trip to Harrogate where they took away with them the Third Section National title as well. What will 2006 bring, especially as their MD Tim Pritchard told us that he was having to lose a number of players due to university placements and the like.  Wait and see, but we are sure they will more than OK.  

Tilbury
Conductor: Rob Nunnery

Last Ten Years:
2005: 10th (R. Nunnery)
2004: 14th First Section (R. Nunnery) (rel)
2003: Withdrew
2002: 10th
2001: Winners 2nd Section (prom)
2000: 4th 2nd Section
1999: 13th (rel)
1998: 15th
1997: N/K
1996: 6th

Tilbury has been busy in the player transfer market of late and we are sure that the new signings will have bedded in on time for the contest under the talented Rob Nunnery. 10th last year was OK, but if things have clicked together then they could well be looking to capture a top six place at least.   

Ware Brass
Conductor: Ken Durbin

Last Ten Years:
2005: 11th (K. Durbin)
2004: 5th (K. Durbin)
2003: Winners of Third Section (prom) (K. Durbin)
2002: 4th 4th Section (K. Durbin) (prom)
2001: 3rd 4th Section (K. Durbin)
2000: 18th 4th Section (K. Durbin)
1999: 16th (rel)
1998: DNC
1997: N/K
1996: 9th

A bit of a drop in form here last year for Ware Brass, but that may have been a bit of a one off as well as they usually are one of the best prepared bands in the section under their MD Ken Durbin. They will need to be careful to ensure they don't get dragged into a relegation dogfight of sorts, but we are sure they have enough about them to do well.    

Yiewsley and West Drayton
Conductor: C. Cole

Last Ten Years:
2005: 9th (C. Cole)
2004: 3rd (C. Cole)
2003: 12th (C. Cole)
2002: 2nd 3rd Section (C. Cole) (prom)
2001: 7th 4th Section (C. Cole) (prom)
2000: 15th 4th Section (C. Cole)
1999: 5th 4th Section
1998: DNC
1997: DNC
1996: DNC

Yiewsley came to the contest in 2004 in need of a good result to ensure they didn't get dragged into a relegation scare, and they certainly showed plenty of character and a great amount of skill by coming 3rd and just missing out on a trip to Harrogate. Last year they reverted to type somewhat and came a disappointing 9th – so what will this year bring? Hopefully a return to form as they were pretty decent at Butlins where they came 11th against a strong national field.   

Past Qualifiers:

2005: Sandhurst Silver, Horsham Borough
2004: Becontree Brass, St Albans City
2003: Wantage Silver, Broseley Brass, Brighton Silver
2002: Northfleet Brass, Becontree Brass
2001: Tilbury, Stonesfield Silver
2000: City of Cambridge, Chichester City
1999: Thames, Egham Band
1998: Welwyn Garden, Fairlop Brass
1997: Brighton Silver, Fairlop Brass
1996: Hanwell, Haverhill Silver
1995: Soham Comrades, Hatfields of Colchester

London bands at the Finals:

2005: 5th, 10th
2004: 5th, 15th
2003: 9th, 10th, 13th
2002: 11th, 13th
2001: 10th, 14th
2000: 8th, 16th
1999: 14th, 17th
1998: 7th, 12th

4BR Prediction:

A real difficult one to predict here, what with any number of the closely matched field more than capable of putting in a prize winning performance at least.

Chris Wormald has already heard what the best second section bands in Yorkshire made of this piece – and it wasn't great, so how will the bands here cope, and how will they impress him.

Of the bands on show though we think it could well be a bit of a scrap between the likes of Yiewsley and West Drayton, Egham and Cawston for the top three places, with Grimsdyke, Ware and Fairlop making up the top six. Our dark horses are Epping Forest. 

1. Yiewsley and West Drayton
2. Cawston
3. Egham
4. Grimsdyke
5. Ware
6. Fairlop

Dark Horses: Epping Forest

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