University Challenge 2013-14: Round 2: Match 1: York vs Somerville

Here we are again people; Monday night, and time for University Challenge. And with no prior word on who was playing, tonight's match was going to be surprising in more ways than one.

York easily defeated Bath in Round 1, 270-70, but were never really threatened by their opposition, thus raising doubts over how they'd perform against a better team on the buzzer. They remained:
Greg Carrick, from Hull, studying Maths
Brian Morley, from Liverpool, studying History and English Literature
Captain: Jeremy Harris, from Droxford in Hampshire, studying Medeival History
Laura Kemp, from Colchester, studying Chemistry

Somerville College Oxford also had an easy first round victory, defeating the decent Pembroke College Cambridge team 250-145. Given that their points were earned against better opposition (who fell just ten short of the repechage), they would probably be favourites for tonight's match. They were still:
Hasneen Karbalai, from Calgary in Canada, studying Medicine
Zac Vermeer, from Sydney, studying Law
Captain: Michael Davies, from Blackburn, studying PPE
Chris Beer, from Blyborough in Lincolnshire, studying English Literature

Here we went then, and Somerville had the better of the opening exchanges, scoring well on the buzzer, and fairly on the bonuses. York's first action on the match was a penalty, and aside from that, they were being beaten on the buzzer. However, the side did take the first picture round, on regions of Northern Ireland, and swept up the bonuses. This left Somerville's lead at 70-20.

The next starter asked for two landlocked countries in Africa; York only supplied one answer, and Somerville supplied two, one of which was wrong; we never did find out what the four correct answers were. Somerville resumed normal business courtesy of Zac Vermeer getting two starters in a row. The side was unlucky to narrowly miss the next starter, on the best current estimate of the age of the Universe, allowing York to pick up the points.

The music round was on arias relating to alcohol, allowed Somerville to increase their lead to 120-35. York stepped back in with the next starter, and two bonuses followed, but any hopes of a recovery were quashed when Somerville took two starters in a row, and a full set of bonuses on the 1912 US election went their way as well. York were now just over 100 behind, but then Brian Morley managed two consecutive correct starters, including the second picture starter. The bonuses, on figures of the Italian renaissance, allowed York to close the gap to 160-95.

A third consecutive starter went to Mr Morley, and you began to wonder if York could pull back and win this. The next three starters were dropped, before Zac Vermeer finally got one right, and a full set of bonuses gave Somerville more breathing space. But back struck York, and the lead shrunk again. But when Chris Beer took the next starter, and all the bonuses went Somerville's way, it now looked like they had won the match.

At the gong, Somerville had won by 240-135. A good and deserved win for the Oxford side, who, having defeated two good sides, could be considered a good bet for the title. Bad luck to York, who clearly struggled against a better team on the buzzer, but a fair performance nonetheless, and nothing to be ashamed of at all.

The stats: Michael Davies was narrowly the night's best buzzer, getting five starters, while Brian Morley's four (matched by Zac Vermeer) was York's best tally. On the bonuses, York managed a reasonable 14 out of 21, while Somerville finished the match with an equally good 23 out of 36, thus suggesting the Oxford side won the match on the buzzer. The sides incurred one penalty each.

As for Only Connect, tonight saw the return of Jamie Karran and co. I won't say how they did in case you haven't seen it yet.