| aughintober, northern ireland

Location: Stangmore, Dungannon

Time: 7.00am (in the morning)

It was with tired eyes that the trio of Jason (Driver), Ryan (Sleeper) and Ashely (Sat-Nav Operator) set off in the mighty Audi for the destination of Dublin to play in the All Ireland Drumming Solo's, to meet up with fellow piper Gail, and competitors Ben, Andy & Chris. After an hour and a half (give or take) of travelling, and a brief re-fueling stop (people, not vehicles), everyone arrived safely in Bally-something. (it's exact name escapes me).

Weeks of preperation had gone into the day, and once on station, all the players were raring to go. After the intake of tea everyone got into practicing, with Ben's qualification run coming quicker than everyone had thought. With 2 qualification runs done (Ben & Andy in Junior Drumming), the long wait had begun for the restults. Unfortunately Ben only just missed qualifying, coming 8th in his grade, but after a brilliant performance, andy made it through!

The second run through was not as simple, though. With Andy and Chris playing close together, it was a sprint to get Ryan from Chris' Room to Andy's Room, tune his pipes to Jason's and get them into play with Andy, but something that was done with Ryan's usual flair.

At the end of the day, Andy got 9th place, with Chris Coming 5th, and a brilliant day had by all! (AND me not getting murdered by my Girlfriend for not picking her up from work on time!).