Evening all, from Ayrshire. We're back from our week off, and back on track with the series. At least we got three shows out of the way before our week off; Mastermind returned on Friday, and was only on one week before taking a week off! Anyway, off we go again, and our first Oxbridge match of the series too.
St Anne's College Oxford was founded in 1952 and was women-only until 1979; alumni include journalist Polly Toynbee and conductor Simon Rattle, provider of one of last series' comedy moments! The college last sent a team three series ago, where they lost in the first round to eventual runners-up Pembroke College Cambridge and narrowly missed out on a place in the repechage. Hoping to do better tonight were:
Sam Zwolinksi, from Northallerton in North Yorkshire, studying Physics
Laura Ludtke, from Red Deer in Canada, studying English Literature
Captain: Edward Hicks, from Reading, studying History
Rebecca McKavanagh, from Croydon, studying Clinical Neurology
Gonville & Caius College Cambridge dates back to the 14th century and was refounded two centuries later; both founders give their names to the college. Alumni include the late great Sir David Frost, Ken Clark and Jimmy Carr; a further four alumni formed the team from the college who won Christmas University Challenge back at the start of the year. A student team last appeared in 2005-06, where they reached the quarter-finals. This year's quartet were:
Ted Loveday, from Hammersmith, studying Law
Michael Taylor, from Ballymena in Northern Ireland, studying History
Captain: Anthony Martinelli, from Hertfordshire, studying Medicine
Jeremy Warner, from Southampton, studying Natural Sciences
Off we set then, and the teams swapped starters to start with, with St Anne's setting off first, and Caius swiftly following. The Cambridge side narrowly fared better on the bonus front, meaning they had a narrow lead. They also took the first picture round, on final standings of F1 seasons won by Brits, and their lead afterwards stood at 70-35.
Ted Loveday of Caius slipped up afterwards, but St Anne's couldn't pick the points up, failing to get the precise answer out. Mr Loveday made up for it afterwards with the next starter, and two bonuses followed. The Cambridge side had no luck with their next set of bonuses, but made up for it by taking the next starter and all three bonuses. A big lead was starting to open up.
Neither side identified the music starter, but the bonuses, on songs whose titles are elements, went to Caius. They had shut St Anne's out in this phase, and led 140-35. And the lead was just getting bigger; the starters kept falling to the Cambridge boys, and, apart from a set on female psychoanalysts which they dropped completely, they generally seemed to take the bonuses as well. Paxo felt the need to tell St Anne's there was still plenty of time left; Edward Hicks promptly buzzed on the next starter, but no answer followed, allowing Caius to pull further away.
The second picture round, on depictions of Ophelia from Hamlet, went to Caius, and their lead now stood at 255-35. Two slip-ups in a row by Caius were not picked up by St Anne's, but Sam Zwolinski took the next starter, finally bringing St Anne's back into the game. Caius seemed to back off a bit now, and St Anne's were managing to finish the match on a flurry, aided by a full set of bonuses on cell structure.
Caius, however, were closing in on 300, and one starter and two bonuses did it. St Anne's managed to break into three figures with the final starter, but could only get as far as one bonus before the gong went. Caius won the game 305-105.
Very well done to Caius on a very impressive first performance, and we shall look forward to seeing how they fare next time around. Bad luck to St Anne's, who were simply outplayed in the middle stages, but they managed a respectable score in the end, so well done to them.
Ted Loveday was the night's best buzzer, getting six starters, while Edwards Hicks was best for St Anne's with three. On the bonuses, St Anne's converted a respectable 9 out of 16, and Caius a very good 32 out of 48, with three penalties. Very good form there; we shall see if it sticks in the next round.
Next week's match: St Peter's College Oxford vs Sussex
Thanks Jack. I was interested to watch last night as I'd heard that Gonville & Caius were good, but never saw them in our trips up to Manchester.
ReplyDeleteI thought they lived up to their billing, but (and this is not criticism as I completely recognise I've got no right to criticise given our performance!) I wasn't as impressed by them as I was with other teams in previous seasons such as Trinity last year or Magdalen or Manchester a couple of years ago. That said, I think they will go far; they seemed quick on the buzzer in most cases and not afraid to chance their arm on starters. They successful blocked out St. Anne's (who were by no means a bad team) for most of the match.
Of the teams so far, I would rank them top ahead of Selwyn, but it would be interesting to see them up against a 'Selwyn-like' team.
Thanks very much for this. Interestingly enough, St. Anne's weren't that far from the scores in the Oxford derby. Still it was quite a match, and I agree with Simon that other teams have been more impressive. So far, the first starter has been taken by the losing team. Seems like a pattern, doesn't it?
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