University Challenge 2018-19: Round 1: Match 2: Emmanuel vs Glasgow

Evening all. After the excellent start to the series last week, could this second encounter keep the early momentum going? I certainly hope so; had a rough day, had little sleep last night due to this infernal heatwave, perked up at work this morning, but then something went wrong with my ready meal and I had to have toast for dinner instead! What I needed to cheer me up was a good match, and I'm glad to say I am satisfied!

Emmanuel College Cambridge began life as a training school for Protestant preachers, and is now one Cambridge's largest colleges; alumni include writer Sebastian Foulkes and Griff Rhys Jones, one of Britain's foremost Welsh comedians (or, as Angus Deayton once claimed, 'four most Welsh comedians'!). The college won UC in 2009-10 under the captaincy of the legendary Alex Guttenplan, and is appearing for the third series in a row, its last two teams having reached the semis and quarters respectively. This year's foursome, with a lot to live up to, were:
Connor MacDonald, from New Brunswick, Canada, studying Politics and International Relations
Vedanth Nair, from Kings Lynn, studying Economics
Captain: Daniella Cugini, from Warwick, studying English
Ben Harris, from Bath, studying Geology

Glasgow University is the second oldest university in Scotland, founded by James II (of Scotland) in 1451. Alumni include TV inventor John Logie Baird, comedian turned dancer Susan Calman and politicians Nicola Sturgeon and Sir Vince Cable. After also appearing in three series running, it sat out last year's tournament; the team from two years ago narrowly lost a low scoring first round match. This year's quartet were:
Lewis Barn, from Airdrie, studying Professional Legal Practice
Freya Whiteford, from Bonybridge near Falkirk, studying Physics with Astrophysics
Captain: James Hampson, from Cheshire, studying Medicine
Cameron Herbert, from West Yorkshire, studying Sociology and Quantatitive Methods

Off we set again then, and Mr Hampson set the ball rolling with, ironically, the answer wrongly offered for the first starter last week, 'night'! Two bonuses were taken. Mr Harris opened Emmanuel's account promptly, but they could take just one of their first bonuses. Mr Barn, who you may remember from the last series of Only Connect, came in very quickly with 'Alfred Hitchcock', and his side pushed their advantage with another two correct bonuses. The first picture round, on islands that multiple countries have land on, including Borneo, where my late grandmother hailed from, went to Emmanuel; all three bonuses followed, leaving the scores level at 40-each.

Mr MacDonald put Emmanuel in front with the next starter, but just the one bonus followed again this time. Another good quick buzz from Mr Barn, not that unreminiscent of the famous '1 6 15 20 15 6 1' from last series, closed the gap again, and one bonus on animals whose names are composed of those of two others, such as Whale Shark and Spider Monkey, put the teams level again. Ms Cugini gave her side the lead again, and this time two bonuses, including what looked like an educated guess of 'Tracey Emin', were accompanied. Again, Glasgow bit back via Mr Barn, but this time, they could only take one, leaving a gap. An unfortunate offer of 'byt' instead of 'byte' by Glasgow gave Emmanuel a bigger lead, and they pushed home with a full bonus set on German political parties.

The music round saw Mr Hampson quickly recognise Debbie Harry of Blondie; the bonuses, on English pop songs with foreign language interludes, gave Glasgow a full set of their own, pulling them back to 100-95. Good game so far, and it carried on, as Emmanuel took the lead again with 'earwig', and another full set pulled them further away again. Back came Glasgow again though, with Mr Herbert taking his first starter of the night, and, again, they took a full set, on physics, so gap back to five. It became nothing when Mr Nair was pedantically docked five, but Glasgow couldn't take advantage. Another starter was dropped, before Ms Whiteford gave Glasgow the lead for the first time in a while; the bonuses gave a mention of Chirk, which I mainly know of via a story of a canal boat incident told by my grandfather, but Glasgow could take none of them.

The second picture round, on comedy characters created by Armando Iannucci, who took a timely full set (I called 'The Thick of It' being one of them before the first came up!), and now led 155-120. 'Starlings' increased that lead, as did two of the resultant bonuses. Back fought Emmanuel though, Mr Nair offering his favourite obscure World Cup fixture in 'Egypt and Saudi Arabia'! The Cambridge side took the same two bonuses I did, and were still very much in the game.

A penalty increased their chances, as did Mr Harris picking up the drop, and the resultant bonuses pulled the Cambridge side within ten again. The lead doubled when Mr Herbert zagged with 'David Hockney' after Mr Nair zigged with 'Damien Hurst'; one bonus meant they were realistically within one starter of victory. The next two were dropped though, though Glasgow's case was helped when Emmanuel were, again, pedantically fined five. Ms Cugini kept their hopes alive with 'Far From the Madding Crowd' though, and two bonuses were quickly taken. But when Mr Hampson took, what turned out to be the last starter of the game, that was game over. There was time for the bonuses, of which one was taken; at the gong, Glasgow won 200-175.

Another excellent match, this series off to a fine start, and thankfully those two 'penalties' didn't affect the outcome. Unlucky Emmanuel, but a very respectable showing, and I'm pretty sure 175 will be enough for the play-offs, hopefully see yous again. Well done Glasgow though, and very best of luck in the second round!

The stats: Mr Hampson was the best buzzer of the night, with five, while Mr MacDonald was Emmanuel's best with three. On the bonuses, Emmanuel converted 19 out of 27 (with two 'penalties'), while Glasgow managed 19 out of 33 (with one penalty), so it was two extra starters that won the game. Also, all eight players answered at least one starter, which we all like to see.

Next week's match: Pembroke College Oxford vs Downing College Cambridge