Evening all. On to the second quarter-final contest tonight, with the winners needing just one more win to progress to the semis and the runners-up needing two. Apologies if this blog is a bit disjointed; have not been well since yesterday morning. Tonight's fixture on paper would look a tad one-sided, but matches are not played on paper; otherwise, one of tonight's teams wouldn't even be here.
Darwin College Cambridge comfortably won their first match dispatching SOAS of London 260-90, before winning a good Cambridge derby against Downing in the second round 205-120 thanks to a late run. Hoping for more of the same tonight were the unchanged foursome of:
Stuart MacPherson, from Bothwell in South Lanarkshire, studying Physics
Chris Davis, from London (originally California), studying Plant Sciences
Captain: Jason Golfinos, from New York City, studying Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Guy Mulley, from Loughton in Essex, studying Law
Bristol came here via two closer contests, firstly a 140-110 victory over Queen's of Belfast in the first round, before a 190-125 victory over Warwick in the second round, again, thanks to a late spurt. Hoping to continue that momentum into tonight were the also unchanged quartet of:
George Sumner, from South London, studying Physics
Owen Iredale, from Hadleigh in Suffolk, studying Biology
Captain: Anne Le Maistre, from Adelaide, studying History
Pushan Basu, from Newcastle, studying English Literature
Off we set again then, and Mr Iredale opened the scoring for the night with 'Monet'; bonuses on the work of WH Auden gave the Avonsiders two correct bonuses to start with. Darwin replied in kind, with Mr Golfinos, best buzzer of the series thus far by some margin, taking 'Brutalism' and two bonuses on British artists following. Mr Mulley moved Darwin ahead with the third starter, but the bonuses didn't go for them, none taken. The first picture round, on charges which, when removed from national flags, give another country's flag, went to Darwin, who, again, drew a blank on the bonuses, but still led 40-20.
A penalty then decreased that advantage, but Bristol couldn't take advantage. The Avonsiders then slipped up, and Darwin did take advantage; bonuses on countries that are prolific producers of cocoa beans and their national football teams (had this already last series, didn't we?) gave them a solitary correct answer (I got one of the others, Ghana). A second starter in a row went to the Darwin captain, and, again, a single bonus accompanied it.
The music round, on classical works referenced in Oliver Sacks' 'Musicophilia', went to Bristol; none of the bonuses were taken, though they were unfortunate to offer 'Hammerstein' instead of 'Rodgers' for the Sound of Music excerpt. Darwin still led 70-25, but Mr Iredale reduced the gap some more when he took the next starter; a classic UC bonus set on pairs of verbs linked by an 'and' provided them with a full set to bring them well back into contention. A third starter in a row to Bristol, a pair of bonuses, and suddenly the sides were level. And then the Avonsiders took the lead as Darwin lost five, but couldn't push the advantage home. A very quick buzz from Mr Golfinos gave the Cambridge side the lead back, but kings of Scotland offered them no correct bonuses (answering James I to all three wasn't daft though, James is by far the most famous and common Scottish regnal name)
The second picture round, on paintings of mythical women by Gentileschi, went to Bristol, who took a solitary bonus, giving them back the lead 90-75. It increased when Darwin lost five on the next starter, but they promptly took the points back thanks to Mr Golfinos taking the next starter; bonuses on 'emirp' primes (prime numbers whose reverses are also primes) gave them a solitary correct answer again.
And when Mr Iredale took the next starter, and two bonuses on African currencies went with it, you'd say it was now their game to lose. Darwin weren't finished yet though, Mr Golfinos taking the next starter, and two bonuses putting them within five points. The gap disappeared when Mr Sumner lost five on the next starter... and that was the gong! A 105-each tie!
So, for the first time in quite a while, a tie-breaker. Mr Golfinos was first to buzz, but didn't answer quick enough, and was wrong anyway. So was Mr Iredale. Another was asked; same buzzers, same outcome! Take three: this time Mr Basu buzzed, and was wrong, and Mr Golfinos mistakenly offered the same answer! Take four: Mr Davis buzzed wrongly, and Bristol didn't even try! Take five: Mr Basu offered 'The End of the Affair'... RIIIIIIIIIIGHT!
Well, that certainly livened up what was otherwise a slow and low scoring match, but still a closely fought one well played by both teams. Unlucky Darwin, best of luck in the eliminators. Well done Bristol though, and best of luck in the qualifiers!
The stats: Mr Golfinos was, again, the best buzzer of the night, with six starters, while Mr Iredale wasn't far behind with five for Bristol. On the bonuses, Darwin converted just 8 out of 24 (with three penalties), while Bristol managed 11 out of 18 (with two penalties), so, for the second week in a row, the bonuses played just as big a role, if not a bigger one, as the buzzers.
Next week's match: Edinburgh vs Manchester. Advanced warning: it is on a day later in Scotland, at 7:30 on Tuesday, so my coverage on here and on Twitter will be a day later than usual.
Only Connect will be on on Tuesday in Scotland next week too. Usual time and day for this week's final qualifier match though; blog hopefully coming up on Wednesday.
I noticed Darwin weren't too hot on their Scottish kings!!!
ReplyDeleteThis match illustrated perfectly the dangers of a team based around a star player, without the solid backup of a good conversion rate. That said, on Golfinos' performance alone (which doesn't really make for good Challenge in my humble view) I can see them in the semis unless they come up against one of the very, very solid teams.
I was glad to see Paxman crack down on Golfinos' habit of buzzing followed by a very long pause. I would have been tempted to summararily rule in Bristol's favour the first time that happened in the tie breakers.