Happy New Year all! Hope everyone had a safe new year. Time to look over the second round of Christmas UC matches. (Again, these reviews are mostly based on memory, so they may not be completely accurate)
Monday 28th: Aberdeen vs Sheffield
Aberdeen: Richard Klein, Nicky Campbell, Ian Boyd, Kezia Dugdale
Sheffield: Sid Lowe, Nicci Gerrard, Adam Hart, Ruth Reed
Not really much to say about this match; Aberdeen got off the mark first, but Sheffield caught them very quickly and didn't relinquish the lead once they took it. Sheffield ultimately won 185-90 to secure a place in the semis. Highlight was Ms Dugdale's identification of Oor Wullie as the mischievous schoolboy from Auchenshoogle!
Tuesday 29th: Durham vs L.S.E.
Durham: Richard Ovenden, Tim Willcox, Monica Grady, Tim Smit
L.S.E.: Bob Neill, Justin Webb, Martin Lewis, James O'Brien
A very close and tight match between two evenly matched teams. In the end, we had a rare tie, 130-each! Durham answered the tie-break correctly, and thus won the game, though it was purely academical as it wasn't enough for a place in the second round. Technically, though, it shouldn't have gone to a tie, as Paxo let L.S.E. off with 'Melbourne and the MCC' for 'Melbourne and the MCG' in the first picture round (though, to be fair, he did say he wouldn't have let a student team have it).
Wednesday 30th: Manchester vs Sheffield
The second semi-final didn't go the way most of us expected. Manchester weren't able to ace the buzzer race like they did before against Sheffield, who managed to shut them out with some quick buzzes and maintain an advantage throughout. Though Manchester came close a few times, they never quite gathered momentum until it was too late. Sheffield won 160-105 to reach the final.
Thursday 31st: U.C.L. vs Magdalen
Two returning sides from last week, and, again, it was close at first until the second half, when Magdalen began to get to the buzzer quicker and run away. U.C.L. did generally get more bonuses when they got in, so the match wasn't quite as big a walkover as it might have been. Magdalen won 195-100.
Friday 1st: Sheffield vs Magdalen
Sadly, like last year, the final was a bit of an anti-climax. Unlike their previous matches, Magdalen shot off the mark, dominating the buzzer race and confining Sheffield's contributions to a couple of penalties. By the time Sheffield recovered to 0, Magdalen were well over the 100 mark. Highlight was Paxo telling Mr Lane Fox to not be so patronising, after he gave a more elaborate answer than he expected to be on the card! It finished 230-60 in Magdalen's favour.
So, that's it for another Christmas UC series. It's been good viewing over the past two weeks; thank you to all who took part for making an enjoyable series!
But it will be good to get back into regular service. Hopefully, I'll be able to carry on as normal on Monday night with the penultimate second round match; don't know who's playing, but Nottingham, Queen's, St Catharine's and St John's are the four sides we have yet to return, so it'll be two of them. I'll also catch up with Monday's OC alongside this Monday coming's.
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