Well, here we are again. Back to normal service, and back to regular UC. Just one more second round match, and then on to the serious business of the Quarter-Finals.
It had been a long time since we first saw both these two teams. Reading defeated St John's College Cambridge 180-120 way back in July, on the day Prince George was born. They remained unchanged from that match, and were still:
Michael Dunleavy, from Wakefield, studying Biomedical Sciences
Christopher White, from Watford, studying History
Captain: Peter Burgess, from Halifax, studying Solar Power
Luke Tudge, from West Yorkshire, studying Psychology
They would have to start as underdogs here, for SOAS defeated none other than our friends Southampton in their first match. Defeating Cromarty(IV) and co 230-155 back in mid August, you'd have to fancy their chances, considering their opponents' subsequent success. They remained:
Mave Weber, from Knebworth in Hertforshire, studying Ancient Near East Studies
Luke Vivian-Neal, from Lusaka in Zambia, studying Chinese
Captain: Peter McKean, from Wallington in South London, studying African History
James Figueroa, from Surrey, studying African Studies and Development Studies
Off we set then, and SOAS got off to the better start, getting the first two starters. Reading's first buzz of the night resulted in a penalty, giving SOAS more points. The first picture starter showed a list of football players, and asked after the teams and match in question; James Figueroa got everything right expect the year, a mistake Peter Burgess did not make. Reading took all three bonuses on sports teams, thus reducing the gap to 75-20.
SOAS soon resumed normal service, and ensured all four of the players all had at least one starter each. Their bonus rate, which had started off very strong, was beginning to wither a bit, but not by much, and was generally good. Their buzzer strength alone was enough to build up a healthy lead. The music starter was missed by both sides, but Peter Burgess took the subsequent start to get his side the music bonuses, on Desert Islands Discs selections (previous artist chose this song, and so on).
SOAS's lead was now 135-45. They weren't getting in very much, but Reading were doing great on the bonuses when they did. Mave Weber slipped up on the next starter, but repeating her wrong answer did not help Reading one bit! Peter McKean kept up his strong showing on the buzzer, with his fourth/fifth starter of the night, and all three bonuses went with it. The second picture round, on artworks named after Venus, went to Reading, and, again, they did good with the bonuses.
Now trailing 170-65, Reading were playing for pride now. Peter Burgess did manage his third starter of the night, but just one bonus went with it this time. Peter McKean took his seventh starter of the night, identifying the '40s as the decade where just one election took place, and a full set of bonuses on cricket followed. The next starter asked for the spelling of 'isosceles'; Chris Tudge tried but slipped up, and Luke Vivian-Neal gave up midway through his attempt.
On SOAS's next set of bonuses, Paxo tried to hurry them along with his usual 'come on chaps', which Ms Weber understandably was not impressed with! Paxo thus had to apologise to her! Luke Tudge took another starter for Reading, but no bonuses went with it. One final starter to SOAS, and the gong went; SOAS won by 240-90.
Bad luck to Reading, who were a good team, but were just repeatedly kept off the buzzer, though did well when they did get in. Good effort by them. But very good work by SOAS there; having now beaten two decent teams, one of whom broke 300 in another match, surely we must take them very seriously indeed.
The two captains were the best buzzers for their sides, with Peter McKean getting seven starters for SOAS, and his namesake Mr Burgess getting three for Reading. Both sides had good bonus rates, Reading managing 9 out of 15, and SOAS 23 out of 37, and both sides incurred one penalty.
So, we move on to the Quarter-Finals next week. As far as I know, it is still using the round robin system it has for the past few years. I will try to post a preview by Friday night.
This match was always going to be interesting viewing for us in Southampton, and it certainly lived up to its promise. Before we competed in the first round, we were hoping that if/when we ended up losing a match, we would be losing to one of the best teams in the series. After SOAS' showing tonight, it is fair to say that's exactly what we did - they are looking very formidable now!
ReplyDeleteBy chance, I met the SOAS team in the contestants' hotel a few hours after we filmed our second round game. They were just arriving, presumably to film their match the following day, and they seemed surprised to see my reanimated form!
This match itself was made particularly memorable by some classic comic moments, with Luke Tudge's repetition of a wrong answer being a highlight (I shouted "cosine" at the screen in a knee-jerk reaction at about the same time as Maeve Weber, but I had a sinking feeling about that answer almost immediately - the correct answer being the reciprocal of the cosine function)! That aside, Reading were definitely smoking on the bonuses that they managed to grab, so going out of the competition with that distinction under their belts, and the (sort of) consolation that they were beaten by a team who may well go a lot further, is nothing to be ashamed of.
I wonder what the Reading home crowd have made of this result? SOAS have not only defeated their local UC team, but also another Reading resident, my teammate David Bishop! They may be in for a hostile reception if they end up in Reading any time soon!
As much as I enjoyed the Christmas series with all its peculiarities, it's nice to have regular UC back on. :D Reading got 145 by my measure for a neat average of 150, whereas SOAS fell a little to 222 for an average of 236.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to compile some of the more interesting statistics I've been tracking, to see if we can come up with a more complex assessment of the teams. Look for that later in the week.
As for next week... you can expect to see me back on screen, I think, and I'll say this: we were filled with more than a little dread when we found out who we'd be playing...
I'd love to see a match between Trinity and Somerville, or Manchester v. Southampton, or at any rate some combination of those four teams in two matches. If the QFs work as before we probably will anyway, at least once.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, well-played SOAS.
We're playing one of those three teams next week. :D (I figure I can say this. The Radio Times used to publish fixtures, and the producers presumably let us know when our next match is so that we can tell our friends about it...)
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