University Challenge 2013-14: Round 2: Match 3: Clare vs Christ Church

Well, how about that?! An Oxbridge match, so bound to be interesting in some way, but how many non-contestants saw that coming?!

In the Cambridge corner, Clare College, who beat Loughborough 195-155 in the first round, and were unchanged from before:
Tom Watson, from Navenby in Lincolnshire, studying Chinese studies 
Carys Redman-White, from Hampshire, studying Veterinary Medicine 
Captain: Tom Wright, from Sevenoaks, studying Theology 
Mark Chonofsky, from Boston, studying Physics

In the Oxford corner, Christ Church, who lost their first match to Filip 'opaltiger' Drnovsek Zorko's Trinity team, but (just) survived to the repechage, where they comfortably beat Durham; they were also unchanged from before:
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

If I'd had to pick a winner before this match, I'd have said Christ Church. But looking back on my review of Clare's first match, they converted bonuses almost as well as the Oxford side did against Trinity. So we could expect a close match.

Off we set, and Christ Church stormed off the mark with the first two starters of the match, and three of six bonuses. But back came Clare with the next two starters, and they too secured three of six bonuses. A superb early buzz from Tom Wright handed them the lead, and it was at that moment I began to think we could be in for something here.

The first picture round was on family trees from the works of Ms J. Austin; Christ Church got the bonuses, and clearly had no idea on any of them, resulting in much hilarity! At one point, Ewan MacAulay asked if any of his colleagues had read any Austin! Paxo told them it served them right, and they should read more! After all that, they trailed 60-45.

An early interruption from Christ Church handed Clare back the advantage, and a set of bonuses of optical illusions. Back hit Christ Church, who seemed very happy when their resultant bonuses were on cell biology; I think they've had a set of those in each of their matches! Just one bonus was converted this time though. In shot Mark Chonofsky with another superb interruption. At this point, the teams were roughly equal on the buzzer, but Clare seemed stronger on the bonuses.

The music round went to Clare, and their lead increased to 115-75. We finally saw a starter get dropped, before George Greenwood identified Major and Brown as the two most recent men to make the direct jump from No 11 to No 10. No bonuses followed, but they swept the board on their next set, on European capitals, and the gap was down to five points.

And then up it went again courtesy of Mark Chonofsky. The second picture round was on depictions of horse racing by French artists. The starter was dropped, and Clare dropped all the subsequent bonuses, leaving their lead at 140-110.

Into the home stretch now, and either side could take the match with a run of momentum. Christ Church hit first, and a set of bonuses of characters in the Tempest saw them only get one. The next starter was dropped, but the one after went to Clare, and up went the gap again. Back hit Christ Church, and this time they took the resultant bonuses saw the gap fall to just five points. And the next starter gave Christ Church their first lead since the start of the game. But no bonuses followed.

Back shot Clare, and they took the lead back! Just one bonus went with it, but at stakes as close as these, every little helped! The next starter asked for the spelling of 'facsimile'; Ewan MacAulay took his time answering, but was correct, and the scores were level! Just one bonus would be enough, but before they could answer the first one, the gong went! It was a tie, 165-each!

So, it was down to whoever got the next starter correct. Tom Wright just beat Ewan MacAulay to the buzzer... and was right! Clare had done it!

What a superb match! Best for a wee while. Very well done Clare for a very good showing, and best of luck for next time around. But very hard lines to Christ Church; they played superbly in all three of their efforts, and, as Paxo said, were very entertaining too, and were so unlucky to just get pipped this time. A good effort.

The stats: Mark Chonofsky was the night's best buzzer, getting seven starters, while Ewan MacAulay, as usual, led for Christ Church with four. On the bonuses, Clare converted just 11 out of 33; Christ Church converted 12 out of 31, but also incurred a penalty. Those stats just give you a sense of how evenly matched these two good teams were, and how easily it could've gone the other way.

If this is the sort of close match we should be getting used to, this is going to be a thrilling series!

Sadly, Only Connect wasn't as close, but a good effort from the winning team, who are now through to the semis. The losers could yet join them if they win their next match.