Only Connect: Series 7: Match 8 (Qualification Match): Francophiles vs Fell Walkers

So, here we are again. Both last night's teams had won their first match, and the winners would join the Celts in the semi-finals; the losers would have to return and win again to go through to the semis.

The Francophiles (Ian Clark, captain Mark Walton and Sam Goodyear) came from behind to narrowly beat the Festival Fans in their first match, while the Fell Walkers (Jim Taylor, captain Mike Amberry and Craig Almonds) defeated the GPs by, what was until last week, the biggest winning margin of the series so far (six). Last week, of course, the run of close matches was broken by a comfortable victory. What would we get here?

On with the show, and the first round saw some unusually tricky questions. VCM was maybe a bit lenient to give the Francophiles the points for one of their questions, on nations whose flags you rotate to get another nation's flag. The picture round, on Pink Floyd album covers, went to the Fell Walkers, who successfully took the points. The Francophiles got a very difficult music question, on songs with mealtimes in their titles.

Going into the second round, the Francophiles led by 6-3. And it was now that the began to show their authority on the game. Their first question, on the traditional English horse races, was identified by them quite easily, and they took points on their other two questions as well. The Fell Walkers weren't so lucky with their questions, which included a fiendish one involving numbers and their final letters which I won't even try to explain. At the end of the round, the Francophiles now led by 12-3.

Onto the Walls, and both teams managed to solve their wall quite comfortably. However, the Fell Walkers missed one of the connections, so they only got seven points, while the Francophiles got all four, meaning they scored a full ten. Their lead was now 22-10, which would probably be enough to see them safely home.

The final missing vowels round was fairly well split between the two teams, with the highlight of the round being a reference to VCM's husband, the ever popular Mr D. Mitchell! However, it was the Francophiles' lead going into the round that was enough to keep them safe, and they won by 27-16.

A good performance, definitely worthy of a place in the semis. But the Fell Walkers did a good job too, and they will get another chance to reach the semis, when they play the Cartophiles in a couple of weeks' time. Next week, the Festival Fans play the Cat Lovers. And after those two games, we're at the semis. Should be interesting.