University Challenge 2014-15: Round 2: Match 5: L.S.H.T.M. vs Bristol

Evening all. Not much to say this week, except that I've had another idea about structural reform: bring back the best of three grand finals they had in the original ITV run. Use them at earlier stages maybe, but that would be a bit much.

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine defeated the L.S.E. team 150-140 in a close first round match, and seemed genuinely surprised whenever they got questions right! They were the same four as before:
Andy Taylor, from Oxford, studying Tropical Medicine and International Health
Rebecca Glover, from Ottawa in Canada, studying the Control of Infectious Disease
Captain: Sarah Legrand, from London, studying Epidemiology
Anjaneya Bapat, from the Wirral, studying Tropical Medicine and International Health

Bristol defeated the Courtauld Institute of Art 190-75 in their first match, but were never really challenged, thus raising questions on how they'd fare against a better team. They were also the same four as before:
Lewis Rendell, from Saffron Walden, studying Maths
Benjamin Moon, from Marksbury and Bath, studying Geology
Captain: Anastasia Reynolds, from Scholes in West Yorkshire, studying Czech and Russian
Miles Coleman, from North London, studying Spanish and Portuguese

Off we set again then, and L.S.H.T.M. got off to the better start, with Sarah Legrand, impressive in their first outing, getting the first two starters of the night, though only three bonuses went with them. Ms Legrand took a third starter, and the side took all three bonuses. Paxo already felt the need to tell Bristol there was plenty of time left, which was a bit unfair seeing as we were only just going into the first picture round. The starter was dropped, but the bonuses, on sites of Mediterranean military actions of WW2, went to Bristol after a harsh but fair ruling cost L.S.H.T.M. five points. They still led 55-20.

Bristol were now into the game, though, and took a second starter in a row; they took no bonuses though, with another harsh but fair ruling resulting them not being given the points. Another starter and bonus set bought them within five points, and a fourth in a row gave them a narrow lead. At this point, both sides were pretty even, and there was nothing in it.

The music starter, asking after the composer of the music to a 1990 film, was dropped after guesses of Elgar and Purcell which seemed to annoy Paxo! The bonuses, on Oscar winners for best original film score, went to L.S.H.T.M., and gave them a narrow lead of 75-70. Bristol reclaimed the lead with the next starter, and then pulled into triple figures with the next starter, and they took two bonuses. It wasn't a high scoring game, but it was certainly close.

The second picture round, on university buildings with UNESCO world heritage site status, went to L.S.H.T.M., and allowed them to cut Bristol's lead to 110-95. The Londoners then began a surge, taking the next starter and two bonuses to give them back the lead. They then took a third starter in a row, and two more bonuses, giving them a 25 point lead.

A surge would win it for either side now, and Bristol took the next starter and all three bonuses to level the scores. Whoever took the next starter would look good for the win; Benjamin Moon took it for Bristol, and they took a full set of bonuses on sausages, one of which seemed to be a total guess! That might just have been enough to see them home, and so it proved, as the remaining starters were dropped. At the gong, Bristol narrowly won 160-135.

Not a very high scoring match, but it was certainly close. Well done anyway to L.S.H.T.M. on two very pleasant outings, and they were a very pleasant team to watch. Well done to Bristol though; another sufficient performance, but I feel they'll need to play better in the QFs. Best of luck to them for then!

Sarah Legrand was the best buzzer of the night, with five starters for L.S.H.T.M., while Miles Coleman was best for Bristol with three. On the bonuses, L.S.H.T.M. managed a respectable 14 out of 21 (with one penalty) and Bristol an also good 16 out of 24.

Again, look to Twitter to find out who's on next week.

Only Connect saw another team reach their QFs tonight, with a fairly close match, which included a humourous missing vowels round on 'party leaders with a letter changed'. I also understand they're trying music questions in Round 2 now.