University Challenge 2018-19: Semi-Final 2: St Edmund Hall vs Darwin

Evening all. So, the second semi-final, and the most hotly anticipated UC match in a long long time, between the two highest profile teams of the series, captained by the two highest profile players of the series, who were pictured having a good humoured tussle on Twitter beforehand, with the winner going through to the grand final. Hmm, feel like we've had a semi-final like this before...

St Edmund Hall Oxford ran riot through the knockout rounds beating York and Clare of Cambridge, then saw off Emmanuel of Cambridge in the preliminaries, before a somewhat off key showing against Bristol saw them only win by 20 points of the last starter of the game. Hoping to make the final and avenge the loss in the Boat Race last weekend were: 
Agastya Pisharody, from India and Basel, studying Material Science  
Marceline Bresson, from the Netherlands, studying Economics and Management  
Captain: Freddie Leo, from Berlin, studying History  
Lizzie Fry, from Worcestershire, studying Geography

Darwin College Cambridge also had a fairly straight forward run to the group stage, beating SOAS of London and Downing of Cambridge, but were also somewhat off the pace against Bristol, losing on a tie-breaker, before recovering with wins over Emmanuel and Manchester. Hoping to reach the final in their first ever UC series were: 
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 Ms Bresson showed that she had no intention of letting this be the clash of the captains that many foresaw by taking the first starter of the game; bonuses on the operas of Richard Wagner gave the Oxford side two bonuses to start with. Mr Golfinos opened his side's scoring with 'mercy', and his side also took two bonuses from their first set, on Hamlet's 'to be or not to be' speech. A second starter to the Darwin captain gave his side the lead, and, again, two of the resulting bonuses followed. The first picture round, on structures discovered by Dorothy Hodgkin, went to St Edmund Hall, Mr Leo opening his account for the night; once again, two bonuses followed, tying the scores at 40-each.

St Edmund Hall then took the lead with Mr Leo taking a second in a row; the bonus sequence was broken as just one from a set on punch cards followed. The Oxford captain had the bit firmly in his teeth, as he took a third in a row, and a full bonus set followed. Their advantage then pushed further ahead as Darwin lost five, and Ms Bresson picked up the drop; French departements cropped up as a bonus topic once again, and one bonus was taken. Mr Mulley finally reawoke Darwin on the next starter, but his side got nothing from a complicated bonus set on months and chemical symbols.

The music round, on 20th century secular cantatas, went to St Edmund Hall, who took two bonuses, which increased their lead to 115-45. Mr Golfinos gave Paxo a good laugh when he buzzed on the next starter, but then realised he didn't have an answer to give! Mr Leo had one, but it was wrong. Mr Golfinos did have the right answer to the next starter though, and bonuses on Sofia Coppola (another regular bonus subject this series) gave Darwin one correct answers. Back came Mr Leo, and a full set of bonuses put them into a potentially match winning lead. But Mr Golfinos kept his side in it by taking the next starter, and two bonuses went with it, unluckily narrowly missing the third.

The second picture round, on authors who have won the Benson medal, went to Darwin, who took one correct bonus, and gave us a classic line of "I don't look at pictures of them, I just read their books!"! The now trailed 140-95, but Mr Golfinos took the next starter to take them into triple figures; no bonuses followed though.

And when Mr Pisharody took the next starter, with one bonus following, you suspected that might be game over. Or maybe not, as Mr Golfinos very quickly took the next starter, and the side quickly ran out a full set of bonuses on football clubs with classical names. There was life in the game yet, as Mr Golfinos took the next starter and one bonus put them just ten behind. Next starter would surely win it; Mr MacPherson did the right thing and took an early guess, but was wrong and dropped five. Mr Leo took the points, and that was game over. At the gong, St Edmund Hall won 165-140.

A great contest, well played both teams, both of whom would've been worthy finalists. Unlucky Darwin, but a fine performance to go out on after a superb series of performances, no shame in going out after a game like that, thanks very much indeed for playing. Very very well done St Edmund Hall though, and very very very best of luck in the final next week!

The stats: Mr Golfinos was, once again, the best buzzer of the night with eight, ending the series with 50 (surely the best haul ever from a member of a non-winning team), leaving Mr Leo, best for his side once again with six, needing ten next week to beat him to the title of best buzzer of the series. On the bonuses, St Edmund Hall converted 15 out of 25, while Darwin managed 12 out of 27 (with two penalties); that's how close it was, but well done both sides, a top game!

Next week's match: the final! Edinburgh vs St Edmund Hall. Hopefully a great end to a fine series!

Only Connect's second semi-final tonight was arguably even more tense than that! Review on Wednesday I hope.