Evening all. Well, after last week's show between arguably the two most popular teams of this year's contest, there will be quite a few who already have their winner and won't bother tuning in for the final two matches. One Twittersmith compared tonight's match to turning up late at a party and finding there's no cake left! For the rest of us, however, it's business as usual, as two more final teams fought for the right to fight Wolfson in next week's final.
Edinburgh have very quietly made it thus far unbeaten, with a good close win over Durham and a tie-breaker win over Open taking them to the group stage, where they beat Birmingham in the preliminaries and, in perhaps the shock of the series thus far, Wolfson in the qualifiers. Hoping to secure a rematch in next week's final, and become the first Scots side to reach the final under Paxo's watch, were:
Luke Dale, from York, studying Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies
Euan Smith, from Aberdeen, studying Classics
Captain: Joe Boyle, from Brighton, studying Ecology and Environmental Science
Emily Goddard, from Wilmslow in Cheshire, studying Chemistry
Balliol College Oxford blitzed the early stages, with easy wins over Imperial of London and Robinson of Cambridge, before losing a good close preliminary to Wolfson, redeeming themselves with strong victories over Birmingham in the eliminators and Corpus Christi of Oxford in the play-offs. Hoping to make it four Oxbridge finals in a row, and thus keep hopes of a Boat Race-UC double alive, were:
Freddie Potts, from Newcastle, studying History
Jacob Lloyd, from London, studying English
Captain: Joey Goldman, from London, studying Philosophy and Theology
Ben Pope, from Sydney, studying Physics
Off we set again then, and first blood of the match went to Mr Pope, who spotted a link of words linked by 'mirror'. Two bonuses on Moroccan cities followed, before Mr Goldman set down his marker for the night with his first starter, laying the way for two more bonuses to follow. A quick buzz from Mr Pope gave the Oxonians a bonus set on words differing by the addition of a P at the start, of which, again they took two. A slip-up then allowed Mr Smith to take Edinburgh's first starter of the night, and they too took two bonuses, on European history. Mr Goldman responded by spotting where the next starter was going well in advance, and his side celebrated with a full bonus set on Latin. The first picture round, on sections of the Theogene with names missing, went to Balliol, who took just one bonus this time, leaving the score at 95-20.
That lead strengthened when Mr Goldman identified the future William IV as having given away the bride at Lord Nelson's wedding. Another full bonus set, a home one for Mr Pope on physics, meant they already led by 100 points. Mr Lloyd picked the right 'Henry IV Part' for the next starter, but just the one bonus was converted this time. Nevermind, Balliol's buzzer dominance continued as Mr Pope took the next starter; though just one bonus followed again, they already had a potentially match winning lead.
Neither side took the music starter, before Mr Smith finally ended his side's shutout, identifying the Wilton Diptych; the music bonuses, on classical pieces that quote the Dies Irae, or Day of Wrath, gave them one correct bonus, which reduced their arrears to 150-35. Mr Dale took more off it by taking a second starter in a row for Edinburgh, and bonuses on Belgian history gave them ten more points. Mr Potts then made sure all four Balliol players had a starter to their names, and they asserted their dominance with a full bonus set. A slip-up then went unpicked up by Edinburgh, before Mr Pope reclaimed the points; bonuses on trees and shrubs saw them take two points, one of which looked like a complete guess!
The second picture round, on world leaders accused of mass embezzlement, went to Edinburgh, who took just the one bonus, which left them trailing 190-70. Again, Mr Goldman impressively foresaw where the question was going, leaving Paxo well impressed! Two bonuses followed, before Mr Pope unluckily dropped five, answering Lewis, only for the question to swerve and ask for both it Harris. Mr Dale did the honours, but his side missed all three bonuses on computing abbreviations.
Mr Smith took another starter for Edinburgh, and two bonuses on Canadian landmarks (how annoyed must Mr Monkman be that he didn't get those!) deservedly took them into triple figures. Indeed, Edinburgh ended the match with a final flourish, Miss Goddard taking the next starter and the side not waiting for Paxo to finish the bonuses, before taking two of them. A starter was dropped, before Mr Smith provided Edinburgh with another starter, and a full bonus set on astronomy. Five were then lost to yet another non-interruption, before Balliol took the points, and that was time. At the gong, Balliol 215-140.
Another good high quality match up between two very good teams, with Balliol's strong first half winning the match. Unlucky Edinburgh, but no disgrace in reaching the semi-finals, and some cracking matches along the way to boot, so thanks very much indeed for playing! Very well done Balliol though; another strong win over proven opponents, and very very best of luck in the final next week!
Mr Goldman was best buzzer of the night again, with five starters taking his series total to 36, while Mr Smith was once again best for Edinburgh with four, giving him a final series total of 30. On the bonuses, Edinburgh converted a respectable 13 out of 24 (with one harsh penalty), while Balliol managed a rather good for this late stage 22 out of 33 (with three penalties).
Next week's match: the final! A rematch between Wolfson and Balliol! Best of (retrospective) luck both!
As for Only Connect's second semi-final, I will get that written up tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on when I decide to do my UC grand final preview. Stay tuned for both!
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