Only Connect: Series 7: Match 6 (Elimination Match): GPs vs Festival Fans

It surely says something about the standard of the teams this year that the biggest win so far this series has been by 6 points. Yesterday's match was yet another good close match between two good teams, and, again, that either had to go out without a win was a shame.

Returning last night were the GPs (Jo Durrant, Chris David and captain Mike Crowe), and the Festival Fans (Ed Dovey, Stewart McCartney and captain and UC alumnus Marianne Fairthorne). Both had lost by narrow margins in the first round.

The GPs kicked off with a picture round on items that share their names with pig meat products; good one. The Festival Fans later got the music round, on pop music acts with birds in their names, but couldn't work it out, giving the opposition a bonus. But the highlight of the round was when the Festival Fans took a full five, identifying a link between postcodes and chemical symbols after just one clue! The sort of thing that usually comes up on UC as a bonus set. This meant, at the end of the first round, they led by 7-5.

The sequences round saw a great picture round, on the drinks from Tubthumping! These question setters come up with some great stuff sometimes. In fact, all the questions in this round were answered correctly by one team or the other. But a question dropped by the GPs, which was picked up by the opposition, proved the difference, as the Festival Fans now led by 15-9 at the end of the round.

And then, continuing the good series showing, both teams swept the board on the Connecting Walls, both getting the maximum, and the GPs finishing theirs in less than a minute! VCM remarked that it was too easy! And, so, going into the final round, the gap remained the same, at 19-25. The GPs could still close the gap, and so nearly did, with a good final showing. But not quite enough, and, in the end, the Festival Fans won by 30-28. Like the Corpuscles last week, the GPs did not deserve to lose both their matches so narrowly. But the Festival Fans played well too, and, to be honest, probably deserved the win for that five-pointer in the first round alone!

So, that's the elimination matches out of the way. Next week, we begin the qualification matches, with the Celts vs the Cat Lovers.