IT was a double dunter for Gavin Mutch in front of a packed crowd in the MacRobert Shearing Pavilion when he not only won the Scottish National final but went on to take the open final title too – a feat not achieved by the same shearer since 2008.

This almighty double for Gavin, who is originally from Forgue, Huntly, but now stays with wife Pip and their children in Stratford, on New Zealand’s North Island, marked his third National win but he’s no strangers to the prizes in the sheep shearing world as he was the first shearer from the Northern Hemisphere to win the prestigious Golden Shears championship last March, following a win at the world championships in 2012 and the world team title in 2014.

During the open final on Sunday, which saw five Scots and one Englishman compete for the title, Gavin was off like a rocket to pop his first of 20 Texel and Suffolk cross hoggs down the chute in 30 seconds and was the first of the pack to head in for his second.

Drawn next to fellow Scot and last year’s open winner, Hamish Mitchell, the pair egged each other on and the shearing was fast and furious to set possibly one of the fastest times seen in the Ingliston shearing race, with commentators Dye Clark and Finlay Smyth struggling for breath, let alone the shearers. It was so fast that Gavin averaged 45 seconds per sheep, some four seconds ahead of the average time per sheep in the final.

Hamish and Gavin were blow for blow nearly all the way through, with Simon Bedwell, Calum Shaw and Adam Berry not far behind. But Gavin managed to edge a sheep ahead to pull the cord in the fastest time of 15 minutes and 3 seconds, followed by Hamish some 39 seconds later with Calum Shaw finishing third in 16 minutes 39.

But it’s not just the fastest time that secures the lead as the points on the board, judged on technique, and in the pen, based on the number of nicks and cuts on the sheep, add to the end count to change the leader-board.

That wasn’t an issue for Gavin, as he notched up 1.500 on the board and 9.750 in the pen to total 56.400 points, nearly six full points ahead of his nearest rival, Calum Shaw.

Calum – dubbed ‘the baby-faced assassin’ – from Saline, Fife, finished with a board score of 1.450 and 10.850 in the pen to total 32.250 while Adam Berry, from Endmoor, Kendal, came in third with the lowest score on the board of 1.400 and a pen score of 10.000 to give him a total of 62.400.

Top qualifier in the semi-finals, Simon Bedwell, from Garve, Ross-shire, came fourth with 64.150 points while Hamish Mitchell, landed fifth place with 64.600. Rannoch’s Jordan Smeaton, despite having the slowest time, actually had the lowest pen score of 8.650 to finish a short way behind in sixth with 65.300.

During the 20-sheep Scottish National final, top qualifier Gavin may not have been the fastest at 15 minutes and 55 seconds, but he picked up the lowest board and pen scores of 1.450 and 9.000, respectively, to finish with 58.200 points on the score board to scoop his third National win, having last won in 2011.

Calum Shaw was quick off the mark in a bid to retain his National title from 2015 and finished five seconds ahead of Gavin. With the second lowest scores of 1.800 on the board and 10.050 in the pen, he secured second place with 59.350.

In an echo of the semi-finals, Hamish Mitchell finished third with a final score of 68.350 have notched up a five-point penalty in the pen over and above his regular pen score.

The blade, or hand shearing final, was a mixed-nations affair when two Englishmen, three Scotsmen and a New Zealander took to the boards to clip four hoggs apiece. While time is usually one of the biggest deciders in the blade competition, three of the finalists finished within a 20-second bracket, but it was George Mudge, from Callaton, Tavistock, who took first place having notched up the lowest score in the pen of 40.750.

This, combined with a time of 12 minutes and 37 seconds and 2.250 on the board resulted in a total of 80.850, only 0.850 points ahead of second placed Alan Oldfield, from Ardeonaig, Killin. Alan picked up 1.250 points on the board, 42.750 in the pen and the fastest time of 12 minutes and 34 seconds to total 81.700 while his nearest rival was Andrew Wear, Compton Martin, Somerset, who placed third with a total of 102.700 having scored 1.500 on the board and 51.700 in the pen.

The two Englishmen, George and Andrew, were to the fore in the England versus Scotland blade test when they took on Scotland’s Mark Armstrong and Wilson Wylie. Despite the individual placings being split between the two nations, the English team finished with a total 154.967 while Scotland notched up 180.834 points.

A hotly-contested open wool handling final saw experienced handler Kirsty Donald, from Thainstone, Inverurie, top the lot having collected the lowest board and time scores of 21.000 and 15.200, respectively, having sorted her six fleeces in just one minute and 46 seconds. This gave her a total of 61.200 and secures her a place at the world championships at Invercargill next February.

Last year’s winner, Lockerbie lass Leanne Bertram, finished in second with 64.00 thanks to the lowest table score of 19.000, and Edinburgh-based Emily Te Kapa came third with 125.200.