So, we've reached the final quarter-final match. Whoever won this match would join Trinity, Somerville and Manchester in the semis, while the runners-up would be heading home.
SOAS got here by beating our old friends Southampton in the first round, Reading in the second, and Cardiff in the preliminaries, before being beaten by Trinity in their qualification match. Very much the favourites for tonight's match were the unchanged team of:
Maeve Weber, from Knebworth in Hertfordshire, 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
Queen's University Belfast arrived at this stag by beating Aberdeen in the first round, and Downing College Cambridge in the second; they then lost to Southampton in the preliminaries, but just made it through their elimination match against Clare College Cambridge. They were also the same foursome as before:
Suzanne Cobain, from County Down, studying History
Gareth Gamble, from Lurgan in County Armagh, studying Medicine
Captain: Joseph Greenwood, from Manchester, studying Irish Theatre
Alexander Green, from Lytham in Lancashire, studying Plasma Physics
OK, off we set again. Joseph Greenwood slipped up straight away, mistaking Alastair Campbell for Malcolm Tucker, and providing much hilarity, and a warning from Paxo he could have a libel coming his way! SOAS thus got off the mark first, and pulled out into an early lead. Queen's soon got going too, and were soon right behind them. The first picture starter was dropped, but the bonuses, on crests of international intelligence agencies, went to SOAS. They now led by 55-30.
SOAS maintained a steady advantage throughout the next phase of the match, getting a few starters and the bonuses that went with them. Queen's were getting starters too, but they couldn't get the bonuses to go with them; Mr Greenwood admitted to Paxo in one set on Prussian generals that he was just making names up! The music round, on classical works associated with the sea, went to SOAS, allowing them to increase their lead to 90-50.
At this stage, it was SOAS's better showing on the bonuses that was proving key; Queen's were getting roughly the same number of starters, but very few bonuses. SOAS were converting their bonuses well on the other hand, generally getting two per set. Peter McKean was unlucky on one starter question, giving one part of a two part answer, and not realising he needed to give another. Queen's took the points, and promptly took all three bonuses. Queen's also took the second picture round, on Spitting Image puppets of political figures (you could hear the audience laughing as each came up!), and took a second full set of bonuses in a row.
Suddenly, Queen's had taken the lead, 115-100. Not for long though; in shot Peter McKean, and SOAS reclaimed the lead. The side subsequently ran into a complex set of bonuses 'names that have a unique last letter among their own category'; again, they managed two of these. However, those full sets had closed the gap up, and when Queen's took the next starter, and all three bonuses again, they reclaimed the lead. Another starter to Queen's, and you began to wonder if a huge shock could be on.
Luke Vivian-Neal didn't, taking the next starter, and bringing SOAS within five points. And when Peter McKean took the next starter, the lead was back with the Londoners, and a full set of bonuses gave them a bit more breathing space. But then SOAS slipped up, giving Queen's a chance to sneak through again, but they couldn't take it. Then it was Queen's who slipped up, and SOAS who failed to pick up the points. Peter McKean's buzz on the next starter was interrupted by the gong, and SOAS had done it 165-145.
A close call, but SOAS take the final place in the semis. Very well done to them, and we shall how they fare there. Bad luck to Queen's, who were just pipped right at the end, but well done to them for getting so far, and there's no shame at all in going out at this stage of the contest.
Peter McKean was the best buzzer of the night, getting five starters, which takes his total this series to twenty-six; Alexander Green was best for Queen's with four starters, but it's Joseph Greenwood who ends the side's run their best overall buzzer, with sixteen overall. On the bonuses, SOAS converted a good 18 out of 27 (with three penalties), while Queen's managed to recover their rate to 13 out of 27, with two penalties. That's what won SOAS the match.
So, on to the semi-finals next. No word on who's playing next week, but it should be a good match whoever it is.
Tonight also saw the return of Only Connect, for a Sport Relief special. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is that the final OC to be shown on BBC4 before it moves to BBC2? We shall have to wait and see.
Well, that was much closer than I expected. Obviously I knew the result ahead of time but I'm glad Queen's gave SOAS a run for their money. Queen's took away 152 from that, giving them a final score of 142; SOAS meanwhile got 181 for an average of 202. That means, I believe, that the four semi-finalists are the teams my system considers the best. So far so good?
ReplyDelete(I think there is to be one more BBC4 series of Only Connect.)
I do love closely-fought matches such as these. Watching it from backstage - and thus technically disproving Paxo's assertion that "three teams have already gone home" - was a particularly intriguing and thrilling experience for me, partly because I was still trying to adjust to the fact that we had just been eliminated from the series. So very well done to both teams here - congratulations to SOAS for making it to the semis, and commiserations to Queen's for almost getting there.
ReplyDeleteThis was the first time we'd seen SOAS in play since their first-round match-up against us, whereas we'd watched Queen's v Clare a few hours earlier. It certainly looked that, with a team that had defeated us playing a team that had been defeated by us, SOAS were on course for a semi-final place, but I didn't expect it to go right to the wire!
I'm not sure if it's necessarily wise to say this, but I, too, was highly amused by the Alastair Campbell moment - which has to now displace "pre-emptive buzzing" and "what else was it going to be?" as the moment of the series! The unfortunate thing was that if Mr Greenwood had waited just a second longer, he would have heard the word "fictional" and had the chance to find "Malcolm Tucker", which would have taken Queen's into the semis! Campbell can now add this Queen's team to his list of political assassinations...
So that completes the semi-final line up! I have to say that the four teams that are through are the strongest four teams of the series, unquestionably, so Opaltiger's numbers have certainly been working well. (I don't think you've posted the numbers for our match vs. Manchester from last week, but correct me if I'm wrong.) This also means that three of the semi-finalists have beaten us in order to get here, and the other is my grandfather's alma mater. I can't complain! Best of luck to all four of them.
Right you are. I've rectified that.
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