Moorabbin City the top winner at Haileybury down under

Keysborough, Victoria, Australia – March 15, 2026 – Grade 2 Moorabbin City were the winners in the top contested grade at the Haileybury Pipe Band Competition, where a total of 31 bands competed across all grades. Grade 1 Hawthorn performed a Medley and MSR for judges’ comments as the only band in the top grade.

This contest is a regular event on the Pipe Bands Victoria calendar and is staged on the grounds of Haileybury College in Melbourne’s southeastern suburb of Keysborough. The venue’s large oval is used for the competition circles and massed bands. The private school runs a comprehensive piping and drumming teaching program and fields three competition bands.

The mark from the one piping judge for each grade was doubled in the results, and the ensemble ranking broke any ties. The competition was run by Pipe Bands Victoria.

Grade 1 (one performed)
Medley
Hawthorn
Judges: Ainsley Hart (piping), Paul Turner (drumming), Andrew Wormesley (ensemble)

MSR
Hawthorn
Judges: Scott Nicolson (piping), Harold Gillespie (drumming), Brian Niven (ensemble)

Grade 2 (two competed)
Overall
1st Moorabbin City
2nd City of Melbourne 1

Medley
1st Moorabbin City (1,1,1)
2nd City of Melbourne 1 (2,2,2)
Judges: Ainsley Hart (piping), Paul Turner (drumming)), Andrew Wormesley (ensemble)

MSR
1st Moorabbin (2,1,1)
2nd City of Melbourne 1 (2,1,1)
Judges: Scott Nicolson (piping), Harold Gillespie (drumming), Brian Niven (ensemble)

Grade 3 (four competed
Overall
1st Scots College 1
2nd Old Scotch 1
3rd Victoria Scottish
4th Haileybury 1

Medley
1st Scots College 1 (1,3,3)
2nd Old Scotch 1 (3,2,1)
3rd Victoria Scottish (2,4,2)
4th Haileybury 1 (4,1,4)
Judges: Ainsley Hart (piping), Paul Turner (drumming)), Andrew Wormesley (ensemble)

MSR
1st Scots College 1 (2,2,2) (ens.pref.)
2nd Old Scotch 1 (3,1,1) (ens.pref.)
3rd Victoria Scottish (1,3,3)
4th Haileybury 1 (4,4,4)
Judges: Scott Nicolson (piping), Harold Gillespie (drumming), Brian Niven (ensemble)

Grade 4A (one played)
Medley
City of Melbourne 2
Judges: Ainsley Hart (piping), Paul Turner (drumming)), Andrew Wormesley (ensemble)

MSR
City of Melbourne 2
Judges: Scott Nicolson (piping), Harold Gillespie (drumming), Brian Niven (ensemble)

Grade 4B (11 total; nine competed in both events and counted in aggregate)
Overall
1st Scotch College 2
2nd Ballarat Grammar
3rd PLC Melbourne
4th Riverina Highlanders
5th Golden City
6th City of Melbourne 3
7th Watsonia RSL
8th Haileybury 2
9th Eastern Districts

Medley
1st Scotch College 2 (1,1,1)
2nd Ballarat Grammar (2,3,6)
3rd Golden City (3,6,2)
4th Riverina Highlanders (4,4,3)
5th PLC Melbourne (5,2,4)
6th City of Melbourne 3 (6,8,5)
Judges: Ainsley Hart (piping), Paul Turner (drumming)), Andrew Wormesley (ensemble)

Marches
1st Scotch College 2 (1,1,1)
2nd Old Scotch 2 (5,4,4)
3rd Ballarat Grammar (4,3,5)
4th Watsonia RSL (2,9,9)
5th PLC Melbourne (8,2,2)
6th Riverina Highlanders (6,6,3)
7th City of Melbourne 3 (2,9,9)
8th Golden City (3,6,2)
9th Haileybury 2 (9,8,8)
10th Eastern Districts (10,10,10)
11th Haileybury 4 (11,11,11)
Judges: Scott Nicolson (piping), Harold Gillespie (drumming), Brian Niven (ensemble)

Novice A (two competed)
1st Scotch College 1 (1,1,1)
2nd Haileybury 1 (2,2,2)
Judges: Scott Nicolson (piping), Harold Gillespie (drumming), Brian Niven (ensemble)

Novice B (no aggregate)
Medley (four competed)
1st Scotch College 2 (1,1,1)
2nd Haileybury 2 (3,2,2)
3rd PLC Melbourne (2,3,3)
4th Ballarat Grammar (4,4,4)
Judges: Scott Nicolson (piping), Harold Gillespie (drumming), Brian Niven (ensemble)

Marches (six competed)
1st PLC Melbourne (1,1,1)
2nd Scotch College 2 (2,2,2)
3rd Haileybury 2 (3,5,3)
4th Scotch College 3 (4,3,4)
5th Ballarat Grammar (6,4,5)
6th Haileybury 3 (5,6,6)
Judges: Ainsley Hart (piping), Paul Turner (drumming)), Andrew Wormesley (ensemble)