Evening all. Well, it had to happen again, didn't it? Two standout teams from the first round meeting in the knockout round. And both all male as well. Finally, the purists get something to moan about. As Paxo said, both teams had an easy first round match, so it would be interesting to see how they fared against better opposition.
Christ's College Cambridge won their first match against Kellogg College Oxford 205-60, impressing on the buzzer and managing half decently on the bonuses. They were hardly challenged by their opponents, though, so tougher opposition would be interesting. They were the same four as before:
Vivek Midha, from London, studying Economics
Joe Kitchen, from Much Hadham in Hertfordshire, studying History
Captain: Douglas Morton, from Bearsden near Glasgow, studying Law
Evan Lynch, from Castleford in West Yorkshire, studying Natural Sciences
York pulled off a surprising 265-90 win over Manchester (The Team Everyone Wants to Beat) in their first match, impressing on both the buzzer and the bonuses. Considered by many to be the team to beat, and, after the second round misfortune of the past three York teams, hopefully things would go better for them this time. They too were unchanged from before:
Barto Joly de Lotbiniere, from London, studying History
Sam Smith, from Guernsey, studying Chemistry
Captain: David Landon Cole, from Yeovil, studying Politics
Joseph McLoughlin, from Oldham, studying Chemistry
Off we set again then, and a slip-up from Christ's allowed York to take the first starter, and all three bonuses on economic paradoxes followed. A second starter went York's way, but no bonuses followed this time. Christ's got off the mark courtesy of Mr Morton, and two bonuses on astronomy followed. York reasserted authority with another starter and two bonuses. The first picture round, on the first stanzas of poems to be identified by the nouns only, went to Christ's, who took one bonus, and cut the gap to 55-30.
A second starter in a row went to the Cambridge side, and a full house of bonuses on island groups (all of which are mainstays of Pointless!) drew them level. Christ's then took the lead on the next starter, and took two bonuses on East Asia. Mr Joly de Lotbiniere took York back into the match, and a full set of bonuses on chemical elements gave them the lead back. A second slip-up from Christ's (harshly penalised, as Paxo was just finishing the question) gave York a bigger lead, and all three bonuses followed again.
The music round, on classical pieces for larger than usual ensembles, went to York, who took one bonus, and increased their lead to 120-70. A second starter in a row for Mr McLoughlin, and a full house of bonuses, a hilarious set on artists as described by theMetaPicture.com(!), increased York's advantage. Christ's fought back with a starter and a full bonus set of their own. A second starter in a row went the Cambridge side's way, and a second full bonus set cut the gap to just 25 points.
The second picture round, on birds that appear on national flags, went to York, and increased their lead to 165-120. Another very quick buzz from Mr Smith followed, and York were back in the ascendancy, though just one bonus followed. A third starter in a row went York's way, but no bonuses followed this time, suggesting Christ's still had time to catch up. They did buzz on the next starter, but only succeeded in incurring another penalty, and giving York the points and a full bonus set that made the job even harder.
Another slip-up from Christ's, a pick-up from York, and that was pretty much game over. Yet another slip-up from Christ's went unpicked-up this time, but it didn't really matter. Christ's finally got another starter right, but no bonuses were followed. A second starter in a row went to the Cambridge side, but, again, none of the bonuses followed. Another slip-up just about summed up the Cambridge side's night; York then incurred a penalty after Mr Smith was caught out by a swerve, but it mattered not. At the gong, York won 225-120.
A pretty good close match until the final quarter when York pulled away. Unlucky Christ's, who were a capable team who are unlucky to go out this early, but well done anyway on two decent efforts. Very well done to York though; another good showing against strong opposition, and best of luck in the QFs!
Messrs Smith and Cole were joint best buzzer of the night, with four each for York, while Mr Lynch was best for Christ's with three. On the bonuses, Christ's converted a respectable 14 out of 24 (with a not so respectable six penalties), while York managed an also decent 22 out of 36 (with one late penalty), and all eight players finished with at least one correct starter to their name.
Next week's match: Peterhouse vs St George's (thanks to Miss Woods on Twitter for that!)
Only Connect finally reached the end of its group phase tonight; I'll follow that up later in the week, and also carry on my Deal retrospective.
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