Evening all. On to the first QF where a team will actually be eliminated. Whoever lost tonight would be the first casualty of the increasingly tiring process, the winners would go through to the play-offs for a place in the semis. Both narrowly lost their first QF to the teams who gave us a great match last week, so hopefully these two would be just as good too.
St Catharine's lost to St John's in their first QF by just five points, though this was an impressive fightback from 90 down with not long to go! They defeated our old friends Southampton and Nottingham in the earlier rounds. They were still the same four as before:
Calum Watson, from Stirlingshire, studying Maths
Ellie Chan, from Brighton, studying History of Art
Captain: Calum Bungey, from London, studying Chemistry
Alex Cranston, from London, studying Biological Natural Sciences
York were surprise winners over Manchester (the Team Everyone Wants to Beat) in their first match, and then took Christ's of Cambridge out in their second; but they lost their first QF to Peterhouse, albeit narrowly on the final starter of the match. They too were unchanged from before:
Barto Joly de Lotbiniere, from London, studying History
Sam Smith, from Guernsey, studying Chemistry
Captain: David Landon Cole, from Yeovil, studying Politics
Joseph McLoughlin, from Oldham, studying Chemistry
Off we set again then, and St Catharine's drew first blood as Mr Watson took the first starter, and all three bonuses on the emperor Claudius followed. York bit straight back courtesy of Mr McLoughlin, and they took two bonuses on the Fermi awards. A second starter in a row for York gave them the lead, plus two bonuses followed, and a third starter and a full bonus set gave them a strong early lead and a good bout of momentum. The first picture round, on heraldic blazons, went to York, who gobbled up the bonuses (much to Paxo's amazement!), and increased their lead to 90-25.
York's momentum continued as Mr McLoughlin took the next starter, and two bonuses followed it. Mr Joly de Lotbiniere took yet another starter for his side, but they showed maybe a hint of weakness, missing all the bonuses (though they were fairly tricky this time). St Catharine's were now 95 behind, but Mr Watson reduced this deficit with a very good buzz on the next starter, and one bonus accompanied. Paxo still felt the need to point out there was still plenty of time left (though he did not name them specifically this time!)!
The music starter was missed by both sides; the bonuses, on songs that won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and their composers and films, went to York, who did well to take two bonuses, and increased their lead to 140-40. Five points disappeared when Mr Cole slipped up on the next starter, allowing St Catharine's to take the honours. Their reward was a good old fashioned UC bonus set where a single question offered 5 points for four correct answers, 10 for five and 15 for a full seven. They got five correct, so 10 for that. Mr Joly de Lotbiniere took possession back for York, and took one bonus on Christian works; Miss Chan took possession back for St Catharine's, and one bonus on antelopes (yes, really!) followed.
The second picture starter was also dropped; the bonuses, on paintings depicting stormy weather, went to York, who took just the one, which put their lead at 165-75. Still time for St Catharine's to close the gap, and Mr Bungey tried his luck on the next starter; but he was wrong, allowing York to take the points and one bonus. Mr Bungey made up for it by taking the next starter, and his side would have to sweep up from now on to catch up like they did before, but they missed all the bonuses, suggesting it would be too much for them.
But they fought on bravely, Mr Bungey trying his luck again, but this time losing five, though York didn't take the points. Mr Watson took the next starter for them, and a full set of bonuses deservedly took them into triple figures. Mr Watson took the final starter of the match, but there was no time for the bonuses. At the gong, York won 180-115.
Another good contest, despite it not being as close as we've been used to recently. Unlucky St Catharine's, who, again, just left it a bit late to gather momentum, but very well done on a very respectable series of performances. Very well done to York though; another excellent performance, and very best of luck in your play-off!
That final starter made Mr Watson the best buzzer of the night, with four starters, though Mr Bungey was the side's best buzzer of the series, with 20 over four matches; Messrs Joly de Lotbiniere, Cole and McLoughlin finished with three each for York. On the bonuses, St Catharine's converted a decent 10 out of 18, while York managed a respectable 17 out of 30; both sides incurred one penalty, and all eight players ended proceedings with at least one starter under their belt.
Next week's match: Imperial vs Liverpool, I guess
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