OK, so, still no word on a new series of UC; August 15th is now the earliest we can expect it. But I honestly don't see that happening; I'm not going all in on the 22nd, but it makes the most sense in my mind, as it would imply that the extra six quarter-finals have finally been done away with and so the series is starting six weeks later than the last few years. We know Only Connect is back on the 29th, so that's the absolute latest we can expect it IMO. Anyway, on with this week's retrospective...
Match 29: Qualification Quarter-Final 1: Manchester vs U.C.L. (4th March 2013)
So, the first qualifier match of
the QFs turned out to be a dress rehearsal for the actual final. It was a close
one at first, with the sides sharing starters and quite even on the bonuses, resulting
in them being tied on 40-each going into the first picture round. U.C.L. took
that, and the three starters after that, and two bonuses from each set meant they
suddenly had an 80 point lead. A minor rally from Manchester saw them cut the
gap down to 50, but three further starters to U.C.L. and seven bonuses out of
nine pretty much wrapped the game up for them.
Manchester did recover well in the
final minutes, which saw them pull well into three figures, but, even for a
team who’d pulled back such a massive deficit so late on in their first match,
the gap was just too big for them. One bonus set, on French volcanos, saw them
resort to the tactic of saying the same thing (‘Martinique’) three times and
getting it right the third time! Used to happen quite a lot back then, but not
so much nowadays. U.C.L. won the game 230-150, but both teams played very well,
strong on the buzzers and the bonuses throughout; in hindsight, we shouldn’t be
surprised that they ended up meeting again in the final…
Match 30, Elimination Quarter-Final 1: Imperial vs Bangor (11th March 2013)
The first eliminator started off
close, with Bangor moving into an early lead, before Imperial took three
starters in a row, including the first picture round, to level the scores. The
teams then traded blows for a while, while remaining pretty close together. The
music round was, as Adam pointed out, controversial, as it was supposed to be on
‘forms’ of jazz, but instead seemed to be about ‘styles’ of jazz, which isn’t
the same thing.
Then, around the twenty minute
mark, Bangor got a run of starters together that pulled them into the lead. In
an attempt to seize the initiative back, Mr Guille took a quick buzz on the
next starter, but, with the previous bonus set still on his mind, offered ‘Niccolo
de Mecici’ instead of ‘Machiavelli’, before suddenly realising his mistake and looking
visibly gutted. Ms Grant took the points and Bangor duly took all three bonuses.
Imperial did pull a starter back quickly, but when Mr Tomlinson took the next,
that was game over. A couple more starters made the win look a bit more one-sided
than it probably was; Bangor won 210-120 and, having twice beaten opponents who
looked better on paper and given the favourites a run for their money, were now
very much to be taken seriously. Imperial, meanwhile, bowed out in unfortunate
circumstances.
Match 31, Qualification Quarter-Final 2: St George's vs New College (18th March 2013)
Finally this week, we have the
second qualifier match, which St George’s got off to the better start in,
leading their opponents 45-10 after the first picture round. In contrast to the
rest of the week’s matches, both teams seemed to be struggling with the bonuses;
that was until both teams suddenly took a full set each in a row.
The poor bonus form returned after
that however, with New College really struggling as they attempted to close the
gap on their opponents’ lead. They eventually did so with the second picture
round, after which they had a ten point lead, which increased when Mr Cappleman
took the next starter. St George’s took the next, but New College now had the
advantage, and another two starters, even though very few bonuses came with
them, confirmed the win. New College won 160-110 to join U.C.L. in the semi-finals.
St George’s, we thought, would meet Bangor in the play-offs, but instead, they
would face Manchester…
So, another three matches in the bag; into the home straight now, with only two more installments to come now. And then hopefully, hopefully, we'll be getting the new series; stay tuned here and on Twitter for more news as it comes. Another three matches coming up next week, plus stay tuned for something extra coming up either on Sunday or next Thursday; see you either then or then then...
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