Evening all. So last week we finished on a bit of a cliffhanger, Paxo telling us we'd have to wait and see which two of the three runners-up that ended on 145 would be going through. As UCStats predicted, it's Durham and Jesus. So now we can properly move on to the play-offs, and with just 25 points between the four teams, two good matches in prospect.
Sheffield played Wolfson of Oxford in their first match, and led for large parts, but ultimately the game ended 170-each, and it was their opponents that took the tie-breaker question. Back for another go tonight were the unchanged foursome of:
Alistair Lyle, from Chiswick in London, studying Metalogy
Sam Kelly, from Seaford in East Sussex, studying English Literature
Captain: Jonathan Newhouse, from Skipton in Yorkshire, studying Cognitive Science
Daisy Fry, from Kent, studying Politics
Jesus College Oxford took on Manchester first time out, and, in contrast, started slowly, ultimately sneaking into the play-offs with a late rally. Also unchanged from before were:
Lucy Clarke, from Ottershaw in Surrey, studying Early Modern History
James Cashman, from Guildford, studying History
Captain: Matt Cook, from Wellington, New Zealand, studying PPE
Miranda Stevens, from Sevenoaks, studying Biology
Off we set again then, and Mr Newhouse, imperious on the buzzer in Sheffield's first match, opened the scoring with 'Mars'; bonuses on 1960s Britain gave the Steelmen a full house to start with. Ms Clarke duly set Jesus off in pursuit with, what Weaver's Week used to call, a 'Hidden Transmission Indicator of the Week', identifying a list of events that usually occur in November. The Oxonians also took a full set of bonuses to start with. A second starter to Ms Clarke, and a second full set of bonuses, and we had a game on here already. Mr Cashman took a third in a row for Jesus, but the show's perfect start ended as the Oxonians only took one bonus from a classic UC set on pairs of countries where the last three letters of the first and the first three of the second are the same. The first picture round, on fonts, went to Sheffield, who took two bonuses, which cut their gap to 65-45.
Ms Clarke bit back with already her third starter of the night, but, again, just the one bonus accompanied. A penalty then set the Oxford side back five, but Sheffield failed to capitalise; they did when Jesus unluckily lost a second five in a row, and also took a sole bonus. A second starter in a row to the Steelmen unlocked a set of bonuses on Scottish football; I got a full house, but Sheffield only knew Aberdeen to be the club Sir Alex Ferguson won the Cup Winner's Cup with. (A slight mistake on the question writers' part, St Mirren's stadium is South WEST of Glasgow Airport rather than South East, albeit only just)
The music starter was dropped; the Scottish football theme continued on the replacement starter which has the answer 'Falkirk'! (Though the question wasn't actually about that team!) Ms Clarke had that, and Jesus took one of the music bonuses, on classical pieces regularly played at the Nobel Prize ceremonies; they now led 85-75. Back came Sheffield thanks to Mr Lyle, and a full set of bonuses on the work of sculptor Hazel Reeves gave them a full house and the lead back. Ms Clarke duly pulled Jesus back, and they too took a full set and the lead back. A second starter in a row went to the Oxonians, and two bonuses on US dramas went with it. Mr Newhouse bought Sheffield back into the match, but they got nothing from a bonus set on mineralogy (my geologist Dad had a full house!).
The second picture round, on cityscapes, went to Jesus, who took another pair of bonuses, which meant they now led 150-110. A nice starter asked for the only SI unit in the NATO alphabet; Mr Kelly was first to realise it was Kilo, and a full set of bonuses on cuneiform meant they were still very much in the game heading into the home straight.
Mr Newhouse pulled them with five as he took the next starter; two or more bonuses would give them the lead back, but they only had the one they needed to level the scores again. Mr Lyle gave the Steelmen the lead, giving them a bonus set on Greek mythology; just the one bonus followed. Jesus were thus still in the game, and Mr Cashman made sure they were by taking the next starter, but they missed all the bonuses, meaning they were still five adrift. Next starter would win the game, and as soon as the words 'ode by John Keats' emerged, Mr Cashman shot in with 'Grecian urn'. And that was the gong! Jesus won 170-165!
A top match between two excellent teams, very well played by both, such a shame this is a sudden death match. Unlucky Sheffield, unlucky to lose both their matches, but two very respectable performances, thanks very much indeed for giving us them. Very well done Jesus though, and best of luck in the second round!
The stats: Ms Clarke and Mr Cashman were joint best for Jesus with five each, while Mr Newhouse was best for Sheffield again with four. On the bonuses, Sheffield converted 15 out of 27, while Jesus managed 16 out of 27 (with two penalties), so they really did win it on that last starter.
Next week's match: York vs Durham
Only Connect entered its elimination round tonight, with the Gladiators and the Darksiders returning; the latter led comfortably for the most part and ran away in Missing Vowels to win 25-10.
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