U.C.L. ran up the highest score of the first round, as they thrashed Exeter 260-85, with captain Simon Dennis getting eleven correct starters, a series record that he still holds. He and his team were unchanged:
Adam Papaphilippopoulos, from London, studying Philosophy
Tom Tyszczuk Smith, from Cambridge, studying Medicine
Captain: Simon Dennis, from London, studying the History and Philosophy of Science
Tom Parton, from Staffordshire, studying Natural Sciences
In comparison, Jesus College Oxford narrowly defeated Queen Mary London in their first match, by a rather narrow 150-120. They thus were firm underdogs tonight, and were also unchanged:
Matt Hitchings, from London, studying Mathematical
Modelling
Frankie Goodway, from London, studying
English
Captain: Guy Brindley, from
Worcestershire, studying Classics
Johnny Woodward, from Winchester,
studying EngineeringSo, on paper, U.C.L. looked, by far, the better team. And yet, it was the Oxonians who were quicker out of the traps. They comfortably dominated the first quarter, getting most of the starters. U.C.L. did get a couple of starters, including the first picture round, but no bonuses followed them.
U.C.L. then began to pick up the pace, with two correct starters in a row, and some bonuses with them. But then an incorrect interruption allowed Jesus back into the game, and the momentum shifted back in their favour. After the music round, on Radio 4's Saddest Music Poll, which went to U.C.L., it was anyone's game, with Jesus leading 85-75.
U.C.L. took the next starter, and, with it, the lead. Jesus hit straight back, and reclaimed it. U.C.L. hit back, and reclaimed it. Then they interrupted incorrectly again, but Jesus failed to pounce, allowing U.C.L. to take the lead again with the next starter. And then, the second picture round, on endangered species, which took U.C.L.'s lead to 150-105.
It was still all to play for. Jesus hit right back, and reduced the gap again. But U.C.L. then pulled away again. The nip and tuck continued, with Jesus getting the next starter, and then U.C.L. the next. Then, U.C.L. got a second in a row, and maybe that would be enough for victory.
Nope. Jesus weren't beaten yet. They got two starters in a row, bettering their first round score, and reduced the gap back to 20. Could they yet pull off a huge shock? Tom Parton thought otherwise. And that was it! U.C.L. won a very tense match 215-180.
Phew, that was great! Well, not as great as some matches I've seen, but still great. Jesus gave U.C.L. a much better fight than we might have expected, and it's a shame to see them leave; Matt Hitchings led the way with five starters, and the side answered 16 bonuses out of 30. After that record haul in the first round, Simon Dennis only managed three starters this time, which Tom Parton bettered with five; the Londoners managed 19 correct bonuses out of 39, with two penalties.
Next week's match: Bangor vs Durham in the final second round match (good luck Welshguy!)
Jesus showed that after all they were very deserving of a place in the second round with a strong performance that might even have been enough for a quarter-final spot, were they not up against such strong opposition. A very entertaining match and the result was in doubt for a while! Also, the highest-scoring of the series so far, just 5 points shy of a 400-point total.
ReplyDeleteFor UCL the manner of their victory is fairly ominous, as the entire team contributed a number of starters - so they do have the strength in depth needed in cases when Dennis isn't producing such a brilliant individual performance as in the first round. Definitely one of the tournament favourites now, along with New College, Oxford.
I think Simon Dennis's good (merely, as opposed to his barn-storming performance last time) goes to show how much a part luck plays in this program.
ReplyDeleteWe watched this match from the green room, I don't remember enjoying it as much last time round but then it's never fun to watch a match with the team you're about to face... especially if they seem to know lots of the answers...
In retrospective that comment seems rather condescending and insulting - I meant to suggest that luck inevitably produces a variation in one's performance from match to match, not that he only did so well last time because of luck. I'm in no position to talk given that I didn't get any starters in our first match!
ReplyDeleteI think it wasn't that at all. We're all lucky that the questions asked are ones we know (when that happens!) and lucky that the opponents weren't quite fast enough to get there first -- e.g. the last question in our second round match when the entire Warwick team were about half-a-second too slow on the "comets" starter.
ReplyDeleteBut by the same token you do have to make your own luck by making sure you know the stuff in the first place - so in that first-round match Simon Dennis was undoubtedly getting "lucky" with the questions all falling within a fairly extensive knowledge base. And I was similarly lucky in our second-round match that after a bad first half personally suddenly the starters started falling for me. But anyway...
Good luck on Monday -- Durham will be tough to beat though!
Thanks. I think if we'd known at the time that we were the second lowest winning score of the series, and that Durham were the second highest, we'd have been wetting ourselves in advance of this match... As it was, we were just grateful that they weren't Imperial, whose first round trouncing of Jesus Cambridge we'd watched from the Green Room before our first round. But you'll see what happens.
ReplyDelete