Evening all. A first for the show tonight, I believe, as two Cambridge colleges faced off. I don't believe we've seen an Oxford or Cambridge derby in the first round before, but do correct me if I'm wrong.
King's College Cambridge was founded in 1441 by Henry VI, and is well known for its choir and their famous Christmas service. Alumni include author Zadie Smith and comedian David Baddiel. It last sent appeared on the show three years ago, where the team, which included blog reader Jim Gratrex, reached the QFs before losing to fellow blog readers Bangor. This year's foursome were:
Kevin Lin, from the US, studying Maths
Alessandro Mariani, from Italy, studying Maths
Captain: Jack Smith, from Nova Scotia, studying Human, Social and Political Sciences
Kamel Shah, from Kingston-upon-Thames, studying History
Sidney Sussex College Cambridge was founded in 1596 by Lady Frances Sidney of Sussex. Alumni include Oliver Cromwell, Lord David Own and Carol Vorderman. It won UC twice in the seventies, and one of those teams won the Reunited series in 2002, but its two appearances in the revived series, the second of which was also three years ago, have resulted in first round defeat. Hoping to put a stop to that were tonight's quartet of:
Nicholas Bennett, from London, studying Maths
Ellie Thompson, from Nottingham, studying Physics
Thomas Hitchcock, from Ashford in Kent, studying Natural Sciences
Dan Wilson, from Buckinghamshire, studying German and Russian
Off we set again then, and Mr Bennett was quickest off the mark with the first starter of the night, and two bonuses followed. King's had an unlucky miss on the next starter, answering 'Heart' instead of 'Heart of', and losing five in the process. Another started was dropped before Sidney Sussex took a second starter and a full bonus set on mythological creatures. King's took their first starter of the match, and one bonus followed, along with an amusing attempted nomination which was quickly abandoned! The first picture round, on UK rivers with shared names, went to Sidney Sussex, who took one bonus and thus led 60-10.
A rather complicated starter about interlocking gears followed, but Mr Bennett knew what it was on about, and a full bonus set very swiftly followed. Just one correct bonus accompanied Sidney Sussex's next starter, but it was enough to see them into triple figures. King's took a second starter, but no bonuses followed this time. They promptly lost five again on the next starter, but made up for it by taking the next starter, and just the bonus followed again.
The music starter was dropped, and King's lost another five on the replacement starter; Sidney Sussex took the points, and the music bonuses, on excerpts from operas set in Egypt. Two bonuses gave them a lead of 120-25, and the way things were going, it may already be enough. A very prompt intervention on the next starter and a full bonus set seemed to back this up. Mr Shah took another starter for King's with a good buzz of his own, but no bonuses followed again. This lack of bonuses, coupled with bad luck on the buzzer, was holding them back.
The second picture round, on stills from films set in the future, went to King's, but, again, no bonuses followed, leaving them trailing 145-45. And when Sidney Sussex took the next starter, and a full set of bonuses on events of the 21st century so far (which I got all of as well), that was pretty much game over. Another quick buzz from Sidney Sussex gave them a bonus set on royal familial relationships, which provided light hilarity with some very unfortunate wrong answers!
King's took another starter, and managed one bonus from a set on elasticity; Mr Smith delivered that right answer with a slight air of frustrated resignation in his voice, which was pretty sad to see. Paxo told him off for being so dismissive! One final starter went to Sidney Sussex, and the gong went before they could give the right answer to the final bonus. Sidney Sussex won 195-60.
A rather slow match to be honest. Unlucky King's, who were simply outplayed on the buzzer and couldn't capitalise when they did get it, but thank you for playing anyway. Well done Sidney Sussex though; a good performance, though we'll have to see them play again against a stronger team to gauge their full potential. Well done anyway!
Mr Bennett was best buzzer of the night, with four starters to his name, while Mr Shah was best for King's with three. On the bonuses, King's could only muster 3 out of 18 (with three penalties), while Sidney Sussex managed a decent 19 out of 30. That, coupled with better buzzer work, was where the match was won and lost.
Next week's match: Reading vs Imperial (good luck to Lewis246 of the DoND forum!)
Tonight's Only Connect was a pretty decent match, even if it was pretty hard. I'll go into more detail on Wednesday. I hope.
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