University Challenge 2018-19: Play-Off Quarter-Final 2: Manchester vs Darwin

Evening all. So, here we are at the last quarter-final of the series. After tonight, we'd know the four semi-finalists; the first three already make for a strong line-up, and whoever won tonight would only add to it. And after ten years of usage, we'd never yet seen a team reach the semis having lost their preliminary match while the team that beat them didn't (saw it once on Only Connect though); would that change tonight though?

Manchester reached the QFs for the first time in a few years via wins over East London in Round 1 and Hertford of Oxford in Round 2, but were defeated by Edinburgh in the Tuesday match; they then recovered with a win over Glasgow in the eliminator. They were the same four as those four prior occasions: 
Alexander Antao, from Chingford in London, studying Maths
Georgia Lynott, from Burnley, studying Applied Maths   
Captain: James Ross, from Coventry, studying Classics and Ancient History   
Joe Hanson, from Gravesend, studying Data Intensive Science

Darwin College Cambridge comfortably saw of SOAS of London and Downing of Cambridge in the knockout rounds, but lost their prelim to Bristol on a tie-break; they more than made up for that though with a thorough win over Emmanuel last time around. They too were unchanged from those previous games: 
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

Off we set again then, and Mr Golfinos very quickly shot off the mark with the first starter of the night; his side took two of the opening bonuses on French history. The Darwin captain did a repeat performance on the game's second starter, and his side did a repeat performance on the bonuses, taking another pair. Manchester had the chance to get going on the next starter, but only dropped themselves into three figures; Darwin couldn't capitalise. Mr Golfinos once again was in first on the next starter though, and went one better this time with a full bonus set. The first picture round, on maps showing distributions of animals in the cat family, went to Darwin, despite them dropping five on a replacement starter; two further bonuses gave them a lead of 80-(-5).

Manchester finally got off the mark on the next starter thanks to Mr Hanson, and duly took a full house on parties in literature. Five of those points were then lost to a pedantic penalty though, allowing Mr Mulley to reawake his side, who took the two bonuses they needed to move into three figures. And they weren't stopping, Mr Golfinos taking already his fifth starter of the game, and a full set of bonuses put them well in command as we reached the halfway point.

The music round, on classical pieces with only the left handed notes being played, who took another full house, which cut their gap to 125-40. Back came Darwin though, with Mr Davis doing the honours this time; bonuses on writer Ali Smith gave them another pair of correct answers. Paxo was then most cruel with Mr Hanson, who nervously offered an answer, then muttered that it was wrong, at which point this host chipped in "No, you're right...", but before he could add, as he has before, "you ARE wrong!", the audience started applauding the apparent right answer! Five points gone there, but Darwin couldn't capitalise. Mr Golfinos took his latest starter next though, and a full bonus set put them within sight of victory. Mr Hanson made up for his error by taking the next starter though, and bonuses on cycle racing gave them two correct answers.

The second picture round, on portraits of the artist's sister, went to Manchester, who took another pair of bonuses, reducing the gap to 170-75. Five points were then lost to another pedantic interruption (the third of the night), but Ms Lynott made up for that by taking the next correct starter; two bonuses on astronomy were taken.

Mr Davis pretty much sealed his side's win when he took the next starter, and a full set of bonuses on Danish royalty confirmed it for good. Mr Ross deservedly took his side into three figures by taking the next starter though, and the Mancunians quickly rattled through the bonuses, of which they managed two. The Manchester captain took the last starter of the game, but the gong cut them off during the bonuses. Darwin won 195-120.

Another solid match well played by both sides, a good end to the quarter-finals. Unlucky Manchester, but a good performance to go out on, and a good series performance, thanks very much for playing! Very well played Darwin though (the first team to reach the semis after losing their prelim while the team that beat them didn't), and very very best of luck in the semis!

The stats: Mr Golfinos was, once again, the best buzzer of the night, with six starters, taking his series total to 42, while Messrs Antao, Ross and Hanson were joint best for Manchester with two each, Mr Antao ending their campaign their best buzzer with 19. On the bonuses, Manchester converted a very good 14 out of 20 (with four penalties), while Darwin managed an also impressive 22 out of 27 (with one penalty).

Next week's match: the first semi-final! A rematch between Durham and Edinburgh, followed by St Edmund Hall vs Darwin (or, as some may wish to call it, Leo vs Golfinos!) the week after.

Only Connect nearly done too, its last quarter-final contest tonight too, and its 300th episode too! Review coming up on Wednesday or Thursday.