Evening all. We're slowly but surely getting there now. Just five more matches after tonight's, and then we're off for the spring. A surprisingly small amount of Twitter comment tonight, but then I guess that's because there's a footie match on BBC1 rather than EastEnders. (Cue EE fans moaning about the footie getting priority over their favourite show!) Whoever lost tonight would be out the door, while the winners would go to the play-offs.
Durham defeated Brasenose College Oxford and York in the first two rounds, but found Caius to be too much in their first quarter-final, and were trounced 275-95. Hoping to make up for that tonight were the unchanged foursome of:
Daniel Morgan-Thomas, from East London, studying History and Classics
Freddie Lloyd, from Penshurst in Kent, studying Philosophy
Captain: Fred Harvey, from Bridlington in East Yorkshire, studying Physics
Nikul Boyd-Shah, from Bournemouth, studying Law
Trinity College Cambridge defeated St Andrews and Leicester in the earlier rounds, but were totally overpowered by Magdalen in their preliminary, and were annihilated 315-55. Also hoping for redemption tonight, and still refusing to introduce themselves with their surnames, were the also unchanged quartet of:
Matthew Willetts, from London, studying Physics
Claire Hall, from Greenwich in London, studying Classics
Captain: Hugh Bennett, from London, studying Chemistry
Aled Walker, from Birmingham, studying Maths
Off we set again then, and Durham were first off the mark, picking up the first starter, and giving Paxo an early snear opportunity, when, during the bonuses, he instructed them to 'get that answer out of [their] heads' as it was wrong! Durham took the second starter and two bonuses from the resultant set. Trinity then tried to break into the match, but slipped-up twice, and dropped to (-10), and allowed Durham to pull away into a strong lead. The Cambridge side finally got going with the first picture round, on locations of music festivals, but couldn't go beyond resetting their score; they trailed 65-0.
A superb buzz from Mr Bennett bought Trinity into positive figures, and they managed two bonuses. They managed a second starter in a row, but no bonuses followed this time, and then they incurred another penalty. Durham woke up again courtesy of Mr Lloyd, but they could only manage one bonus. The Wearsiders' early sprint was proving the main difference thus far; neither side was really firing on all fours.
The music round saw Mr Lloyd, eventually, identify the Manic Street Preachers; the bonuses, on songs US politicians got into trouble for using in campaigns, allowed Durham to break three figures and lead 100-25. Mr Harvey made sure all of his side had at least one correct starter to their names by taking the next starter, and the side took all three bonuses to up their lead to 100 points. Trinity responded by taking the next starter and managed a full bonus set of their own. Neither side worked out a complicated question on relative scale, before Mr Willetts pulled Trinity up further, but only one bonus followed.
The second picture round, on depictions of female figures by Rubens, went to Durham, and allowed them to increase their lead to 140-65. Mr Willetts allowed Trinity to cut that gap some more, with Paxo giving him leeway on a slightly mispronounced answer, and the side took two bonuses. If they were going to catch Durham, they were going to have to run the show from now on; but when Mr Morgan-Thomas took the next starter, it looked like they may just have done enough, despite dropping all the bonuses.
With not much time left, Trinity made one final valiant sprint, with Hugh Bennett taking the next starter, and the side took one bonus to just break into triple figures. But then the Cambridge side incurred another penalty, which Durham were unable to pick up. Durham then incurred a penalty of their own, the latest this series where a contestant is penalised for just cutting the question. Trinity took the points, but the gong cut them off during the bonuses. Durham won the match 145-105.
Another rather slow moving match throughout. Unlucky Trinity, who just didn't get the right questions at the right time tonight, but good on them for a respectable series effort. Well done to Durham though, and best of luck to them in their play-off!
Daniel Morgan-Thomas was the best buzzer for Durham, with four starters, while Mr Bennett was Trinity's best, also with four. On the bonuses, Durham converted just 12 out of 27 (with one late penalty) and Trinity just 9 out of 22 (with four penalties); low rates there, which just about sum up the low scoring nature of the night.
Next week's match: the first play-off; I would guess at Bristol vs Magdalen, then Liverpool vs Durham, but I don't know.
Only Connect paused for a Comic Relief special tonight, which treated us to a great shot of VCM with a toy turkey on her head! No doubt the Twittersphere will be all over that now the show's on BBC2! The semi-finals begin next week.
Confirmation received via Twitter that it's Bristol v Magdalen tomorrow night.
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