Good evening, from Ayrshire, for the first of the repechage play-offs. If I understand correctly, this was the first match recorded after the show moved to Salford. So, what would a change in location do? Well, apart from Paxo being zoomed in on from slightly further back than before, not a lot. We'll see what playing away does to Manchester's performance when we see them again later.
Durham narrowly lost to Queens' College Cambridge back in early August, by just twenty points, and with a score of 170, twenty points higher than their opposition tonight. Despite that, most would consider them the underdogs tonight; they were unchanged from before:
Alex Richards, from Derbyshire, studying Chemistry
Daniel Hulme, from Staffordshire, studying Theoretical Physics
Captain: Matt MacKenzie, from Gloucestershire, studying History
Oliver Burnham, from Hampshire, studying Chemistry
Christ Church Oxford were unlucky to draw the formidable Trinity College Cambridge team in their first match, but despite getting trounced, they still came away with an impressive score of 150, and only missed a handful of bonuses along the way. Their score was just enough to bring them back, so back again were:
George Greenwood, from Exeter, studying PPE
Andreas Capstack, from Norway, studying PPE
Captain: Ewan MacAulay, from Hong Kong, studying Chemistry
Phil Ostrowski, from Poland, studying Cardiology
So, on paper, not much between them, with Durham having a slightly higher score. But Christ Church's score was achieved against the best team of the first round, and that combined with their bonus rate made them the favourites tonight.
Early on, honours were even, with starters being swapped, and bonuses coming by the plenty. Phil Ostrowski was lucky to get away with a rather long pause after not answering a starter fully at first; but was given the benefit of the doubt, and became the second Christ Church to get a starter right in the series! The first picture round, on logos of international organizations, went to Durham, and they led 60-40.
Then, up surged Christ Church, and away they pulled. Unlike in the heat though, Ewan MacAulay was being aided by his colleagues, who were also adding their two cents on the buzzer. A dropped starter finally came when Mr MacAulay buzzed wrongly, and Paxo dared Durham to take a guess; the guess that came amused Paxo so much he didn't think it was worth guessing!
Phil Ostrowski admitted he was embarrassed to be able to identify Celine Dion for the music starter, but Paxo reassured him it was fine, as it got his team the points! The side swept the bonuses, on Canadian female vocalists, much to Paxo's amazement! Christ Church now led 135-60, and shortly afterwards, George Greenwood made sure all four Oxonions had at least one starter under their belts. The resulting bonuses saw the Oxford side take ages conferring on one bonus, and make Paxo crease up in the process!
Trying to break Durham back into the match, Daniel Hulme buzzed early on the next starter, but he didn't phrase his answer properly, allowing Christ Church to take the points. Matt MacKenzie made a similar mistake afterwards, giving the Oxonians more wheat to their mill. Durham finally broke back into the game with the next starter, but no bonuses followed.
And then the second picture round, on the dogs of US presidents. In each case, the breed was required, and the president as well for the bonuses! Ewan MacAulay narrowly missed the starter, allowing Durham to sneak the points, and the bonuses. More hilarity ensued! Durham now trailed by 200-80, but Daniel Hulme pounced on another Oxford error, giving all eight players at least one starter to their name.
Now into three figures, Durham needed to sweep the remaining starters up, but Christ Church wouldn't let them, and the next starter confirmed their victory. Now playing for pride, Durham did manage a late rally, stringing together two starters and a good tally of bonuses. The final points of a good match went to Christ Church, and at the gong, they had the win by 245-140.
Paxo was correct in saying 140 is a good score to lose with against such a good team. A shame to lose yet another promising Durham side so early, but they didn't disgrace themselves at all, and gave a good account of themselves in their two matches. Well done to Christ Church though for an entertaining victory, and, like so many others in the second round already, a favourable draw could see them make further progress.
The stats: Ewan MacAulay led again for Christ Church, this time with six starters, only one more then Phil Ostrowski managed, while Matt MacKenzie was Durham's lead buzzer with four. On the bonuses, Durham managed a respectable 13 out of 24 (with one penalty), while the Oxonians converted 23 out of 36, which is a slight step back from their first match, but still very good indeed. Good play all round.
Next week's match: the second repechage match between Southampton and Loughborough (good luck Cromarty(IV)!)
As for Only Connect, tonight we saw the first of the elimination matches between sides that lost their first match. Another close one too; shame to lose either side.
Well, that was the most entertaining match I've watched in a while. I'm a bit confused by Capstack, though, who introduced himself as being from Belgium last time and from Norway this time.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Christ Church were remarkably consistent - their score for this match was 242, leaving their average at 243. Durham dropped a little, scoring 178 this match for a total of 185 - certainly a respectable score with which to leave the series, I think.
Well Mackenzie looked bored of the whole thing towards the end! A very entertaining match and both sides played well, but you could see in the first match that MacAualay was a great player so it would have been a shame to lose him, and the rest of the team now that they chipped in in some style too, from the next round.
ReplyDeleteGood lucky to Cromarty for next week!
So glad Christ Church got through and Ewan could show what a fine quizzer he really is, although, as you point out, all of the team managed to contribute this game.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really entertaining game, with lots of amusin conferring. I particularly enjoyed Christ Church trying to decide which city was being mentioned as 'this foul drain' by De Toqueville!
Mackenzie did look very disinterested by the end, maybe resigned to losing (although they still managed a perfectly respectable score).
It was a historic match, this one, being (as you have correctly noted) the first game in a regular series to be filmed in MediaCityUK as opposed to Granada Studios. I’m not sure whether the Christmas specials in 2012 were filmed there – I remember someone suggesting they may have been filmed in MediaCity as a test run for the new studios – but tonight’s match is definitely the bona fide start of a new era. Both teams put on a good show to mark the occasion!
ReplyDeleteI watched it live from the Green Room while waiting for Southampton’s summons, and I must say, we had a good time in the role of viewers! “Kissinger” provided much hilarity among us, and our reaction to Christ Church’s sweeping the board on the music bonuses was none too dissimilar to Paxo’s. A certain member of our team identified Celine Dion extremely quickly, and we’ve never let him hear the end of it! (Although… Shania Twain briefly identified as Avril Lavigne?? Seriously, Christ Church?)
There were more near-misses and near-hits to questions in this game than I remember. I know just how annoying those moments are, so it was reassuring to know that I’m not alone in making misjudgements like them!
It’s a shame to see Durham leaving the competition so early yet again – especially given their track record in recent years (slaughtered by eventual finallists in 2009-11, and narrowly beaten in round 2 in 2012-13, with strong teams in both cases), and that their team this year was perfectly decent. They, I fear, will be just the first good team this series to fall under the wheels of opponents who are just that bit better. I agree with the rest of you that Matt Mackenzie was sounding a bit disinterested by the end, but I’ve found myself phasing into the “not really there” type when I know I’m losing by a long way, so I know the feeling!
Christ Church, however, impressed me very much. At the time that I was sitting in the Green Room that day, I knew about their thrashing at the hands of Trinity, so after seeing them power their way to 245 here, I really was fearing how strong Trinity probably were! That said, I also knew that Christ Church were a good lot, albeit for the strangest of reasons…
It all began when my organic chemistry tutor at Southampton found out that I was going on UC. This tutor also teaches at Christ Church, so he knows Ewan MacAulay, and his words to me before the first round were something like “Watch out for Christ Church – one of my students is on that team, and he’s very good”! Then when our two teams met in the Green Room at the repechage stage, Ewan immediately asked the Southampton team, “Which one of you does chemistry?” So he had clearly heard about us as well. Thanks to that tenuous link, I was backing Ewan’s team, and it was great to see what they are capable of against a team that isn’t Trinity!
So next week, we’re back, and so is Susu the cat! A bit of background for you on our repechage game: six days before it was filmed, I was in attendance at the Lifesaving National Championships (yes, they do exist!), where Loughborough University finished in at least the top three in practically every event going. Southampton won an event, but we couldn’t touch Loughborough’s team in anything else (perhaps unsurprisingly, given their sporting prestige). So when I found out that we were to play Loughborough in UC, I realised that I had the change for vengeance, and that I’d never hear the end of it at lifesaving training if I didn’t win this match!