University Challenge 2020-21: Round 2: Match 3: Merton vs Warwick

Good evening friends, and welcome back to University Challenge! So far, we've had two second round matches that were highly unfortunate, as they were both between two good teams and the runners-up could well have beaten another team. Tonight's match-up continued that unfortunate form, with the two teams whose first round matches were comfortable wins over a Wolfson college!

Merton College Oxford very comfortably defeated Wolfson of Cambridge, racking up 185 points before their opponents even got off the mark; they eventually won 210-40. Playing the reserve, who Paxo pointed out to be the daughter of Anne Le Maistre, who captained Bristol a couple of series back, they were now: 

Elizabeth Le Maistre, from Bristol, graduated in German and Linguistics

Connor Ó Síocháin, from Cork, graduated in PPE

Captain: Pax Butchart, from London, studying English

William Isotta, from London, studying Physics

 

Warwick won a somewhat closer match against Wolfson of Oxford two weeks later, trailing at first and not leading until halfway through the match, but pulling well away in the second to win 255-105. Unchanged from before, they were still: 

Richard Pollard, from Cheshire, studying History and Politics

George Braid, from Brighton, graduated in Physics

Captain: Andrew Rout, from Bearsted in Kent, studying Maths

Owen Burrell, from Lancaster, studying English Literature

 

So off we set once more, and it was Merton who got off to the quicker start, with the first starter and one bonus from the first set, on criminal law, going to them. Mr Ó Síocháin took the second starter, but no bonuses followed, and they then lost five on the third; Warwick thus got off the mark and drew level with two bonuses from their first set. The first picture round, on the names of recent novels translated into Old English, went to Merton, but another blank on the bonuses left their lead at 30-20.

A second Merton penalty and a pickup from Warwick gave the Coventry side the lead, and they took two bonuses on rice dishes. They went one better with the bonuses from their next starter, a full set, but a third starter in a row was followed by just one bonus on this year's Oscars (in a normal year, you'd be waiting a year before getting a bonus set on a year's Oscars). A third penalty to Merton, a third pickup to Warwick, but just one bonus on local government districts left them five shy of three figures. The music starter was dropped, the bonuses, on music by members of the Grand Ole Opry, went to Merton; they didn't take any of them, so trailed 95-30.

Mr Isotta, Merton's MVP in the first round, now found his form at last with two starters in a row, but the bonuses continued to trouble the Oxonians, none from the first bonus set, and just one from the second on the Dutch city of Haarlem. Warwick, in contrast, took the next starter, or rather Mr Rout did, and took a full house of the bonuses. The second picture round, on paintings involving eggs, went to Merton; one correct bonus left their deficit at 120-70.

Still a match up for grabs, if Merton could get a run on the buzzer and the bonuses fell for them. But Mr Rout took the next starter, and two bonuses went to Warwick, and Merton's job became a bit harder. And when Mr Braid took the next starter, that was likely game over, though no bonuses followed. Mr Isotta pulled one back for Merton with 'Council of Europe', and they took two bonuses on literature, unluckily one word short of a full set. But Warwick saw the show out with the final two starters and three of the six bonuses. At the gong, Warwick won 190-90.

A good match that I felt was closer than the score suggests, and pretty much was on the buzzer, it was the bonuses that made the difference. Well done to Warwick on another good victory and performance, and best of luck in the QFs! Hard lines to Merton, for whom the bonuses just didn't fall well tonight, but thanks very much indeed for taking part!

The stats: Mr Rout was, just, the best buzzer of the night with five starters to Mr Braid's four, while Messrs Ó Síocháin and Isotta got three each for Merton. On the bonuses, Merton managed just 5 out of 24 (with three penalties) and Warwick 18 out of 30.

Next week's match: again, don't know, but will retweet if we find out. It would maybe be appreciated if TPTB did start releasing fixtures in advance again, provided they don't spoil the results of yet-to-air matches like they did early last decade. (Go back to blog posts on here and LAM from back then to get the picture)

Only Connect began the elimination matches with the Pilgrims vs the Bridges. After a first round of three three-pointers, the Bridges a lead of 8-5, before a better second round that included a five-pointer gave the Pilgrims a 12-9 lead going into the Walls (I got a rare five-pointer of my own on the Wacky Races question!). Two perfect walls left the scores at 22-19, before a very dramatic Missing Vowels saw the Bridges snatch a 26-25 win on the final clue of the show!

 

Mastermind returned, also in its earlier slot, and was another close call, with all four contenders within a point of each other! Jackie Hunter won the show, and the semi-final place, with 20 points.