Evening all. Been a tough day for me here, but I won't bore you with the details. The task for tonight's two teams was simple: win, or, failing that, lose with a high score; a score above 130 would push Sheffield off the repechage, currently topped by Manchester on 160.
Leicester University was founded in 1921 as a university college intended as a WW1 memorial, and became a university in 1957. Alumni include writers CP Snow and Malcolm Jennings. A team from the uni won the very first series of UC back in 1962; it last appeared in 2004-05, where they got as far as the second round. This year's quartet were:
John O'Doherty, from Portsmouth, studying Medicine
Adam Brown, from Solihull, studying Mechanical Engineering
Captain: Robert Greenhill, from Leicester, studying Humanities and Arts
Nadal al Masri, from Leicester, studying History
The Open University was the brainchild of Harold Wilson, who set to work organising it on assuming office in 1964, but it didn't start enrolling students until 1971. It now has around 250,000 students across Britain; alumni include Sheila Hancock and Lenny Henry. It hasn't been seen on UC since winning it in 1999, a feat it also achieved in 1984. Tonight's team were:
Danielle Gibney, from Amsterdam, studying Social Sciences
Stuart Taylor, from Stratford-upon-Avon, studying Development Managemant
Captain: Lynne Jones, from Bolton, studying Languages and History
Kate Law, from Sutherland in the Highlands, studying Engineering
Off we set then, and Open were first off the mark, and took two bonuses on coal. Leicester followed shortly afterwards, and also took two bonuses, a feat they repeated with the next starter and bonuses. The first picture round, on British lakes formed by glaciation, went to Open, and they, again, took two bonuses, which left the scores ties 40-all.
Leicester took the next starter, and went one better than the prior bonus sets, getting all three (two of which Mr Greenhill got on his own). The Midlanders now began to build up a head of steam on the buzzer, and began to pull away somewhat. They were helped by the fact that they generally seemed to be taking the bonuses as well, which is a sign of a good team.
The music starter saw Kate Law identify Rod Stewart, much to her embarrassment! The bonuses, on tracks by Scottish artists used in GTA games, saw Open take all three, which cut the gap to 130-65. Much work was still to be done, and they seemed to be doing it, as two starters in a row and a couple of bonuses bought them back into the game. But then Leicester regained the momentum, taking two starters and two full bonus sets to take them further away.
The second picture starter saw Robert Greenhill quickly identify the late Ted Heath, and then polish off the bonuses, on US presidents engaged in hobbies, with no help from his colleagues! His side now led by 205-95, but the way the bonuses were falling for both sides, that might not have been insurmountable. As if to prove that, Open took the next two starters, and two bonuses from both sets, which was sufficient to push Sheffield off the repechage.
But Open weren't going to stop there; two more starters fell to them, and those coupled with the resultant bonuses took them above Manchester's 160 and within 35 points. Adam Brown promptly bought Leicester back into the game, and a full set of bonuses confirmed that they probably couldn't be caught now. Open tried hard though, but just couldn't make up the ground. At the gong, Leicester won 245-190.
What a brilliant match; best of the series so far by a long way. Both teams were great, and both totally deserve to come back. Bad luck to Open, but they were brilliant, and will most definitely be back in the repechage. Well done to Leicester, and best of luck next time! They could be a team to watch, methinks.
Robert Greenhill was the night's best buzzer, with four starters, while Lynne Jones and Kate Law were joint best for Open with three each. On the bonuses, Leicester converted an absolutely tremendous 27 out of 31, and Open a very respectable 19 out of 30 (with one late penalty). A great pair of showings there; both show great promise for the later stages.
Next week's match: Trinity College Cambridge vs St Andrews
Only Connect continued on its way on BBC2, with a team of Gilbert and Sullivan fanatics meeting a team of Doctor Who fanatics (sadly, they were not called the 'Whovians').
Thanks. Indeed an amazing match, and the bonus conversion speaks volumes. I was quite surprised that 'Paris Communards' was accepted as an answer to which uprising it was that saw a toppling of the Napoleon column. It certainly seems unfair, especially in light of the periodic table-gate a couple of weeks ago. It looked like Masri wanted to but in, although in general, captain Greenhill not conferring with his team members might have worked to their advantage. A force to be reckoned with, as is the Open University with a score only beaten by Leicester, Caius and St. Peter's.
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