Evening all. So, the second play-off, with the last place in a very competitive second round up for grabs, and, after last week's very close match, another looked a distinct possibility, with only five points separating these two teams' first round scores. Mind you, that was the case for the second play-off two series ago, and it ended up an absolute demolition job. That's why the play-offs and second round are such fun rounds: they are almost impossible to predict at times.
The University of York (not York University, that's in Toronto) were level pegging with Magdalen of Oxford pretty much all the way through their first match, and ultimately lost by a narrow margin of 170-150. They were the same foursome as before:
Mickey Conn, from Godalming, studying Social Policy
Sophie Williams, from Telford, studying Medieval Studies
Captain: Sam McEwan, from Sevenoaks, studying History and Philosophy
David Eastham, from Lancaster, studying Archaeology
Durham University started strongly in their first match against Trinity of Cambridge, but their opponents ultimately overpowered them and won comfortably by 200-145. They too were unchanged from that match:
Charles Bland, from Sutton in Surrey, studying Philosophy
William Tams, from Kirkby Stephen in Cumbria, studying Biosciences
Captain: Joe Cooper, from London, studying Chemistry
Arthur Raffle, from Manchester, studying French and German
Off we set again then, and Mr Raffle was first off the line as he identified 'private' as the common word in the titles of various listed works; Durham opened their night with two correct bonuses. Mr Cooper gave the Wearsiders a second starter, and a repeat performance on the bonuses followed, another two. Mr McEwan opened York's account with the next starter, and a classic UC bonus set on words differing by the addition of 'let' at the end gave them a full house. Back came Durham thanks to Mr Tams though, and they responded with a full bonus set of their own. The first picture round, on maps with countries highlighted depending on whether they recognise a state as an independent country or not, went to Durham; another full house there gave them a lead of 85-25.
It increased when Mr McEwan lost five on the next starter; Mr Bland swept in, thus, already, making sure all four Durhamites had contributed at least one starter. No bonuses followed though, and they then lost five of their own via a penalty, but York couldn't pickup. Mr McEwan identified the owl for the next starter though, the giveaway clue being that it was playing a guitar in a poem by Edward Lear; one bonus followed. A great starter asked for the childrens song the words in which are synonyms of 'cranium', 'scapula', 'patella' and 'phalange'; Mr Cooper was first in with 'Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes'! (As someone on Twitter pointed out, if this was OC, Victoria would've been demanding a sing-along!) Durham pushed home their advantage with a full set of bonuses; Mr Raffle then took the next starter, with a further two bonuses pushing their lead to 100.
The music round, on classical pieces used for marches by the Armed Forces, went to Durham, who took a further two bonuses, taking their lead to 155-35. And they weren't stopping yet, as Mr Bland took the next starter, and a full set of bonuses on extinct herbivores went with it. Mr Raffle was maybe a tad lucky to avoid a telling off for a slight pause after buzzing on the next starter, but he was right, and another full bonus set put Durham past 200 and pretty much home and dry already. Back came York at last, with Ms Williams identifying 'Trojan and Trajan'; two bonuses on slave rebellions followed. Mr Cooper was slightly unlucky to lose five on the next starter; Mr Eastham picked up the points, and York took another pair of correct bonuses.
The second picture round, on stills from films whose canine characters have won the Palm Dog award, went to York, who took a sole bonus, which took the scores to 200-90. They'd probably left it too late, but York were at least going down with a good fight; Mr Conn made sure all eight players had answered a starter correct, and a bonus set on the Wikipedia logo (also the subject of Alex Guttenplan's first correct starter ten series ago!) gave them one correct answer.
Ms Williams gave York a fifth starter in a row with 'Daniel Day-Lewis', and another sole bonus pretty much ended their hopes of an unlikely victory. Mr Cooper extinguished them for good as he reawoke Durham by taking the next starter; just one bonus followed, but it didn't really matter now. Karl Marx popped up for the second week in a row on the next starter; Mr McEwan identified him, and York went out in style with a full set of bonuses. Mr Bland was next in for Durham with a very prompt buzz, and bonuses on the works of JM Coetzee saw the Wearsiders employ the old tactic of saying the same thing to all three bonuses and getting it right at the third time of asking. Mr Raffle took the final starter, and there was time for one bonus before the gong; Durham won 240-145.
A top contest between two good teams, very well played by both. Unlucky York, whose impressive recovery came a bit too late, but a fine performance to go out on, thanks very much for playing. Very well done Durham though, a strong performance against good opponents, and very best of luck in the second round!
The stats: Mr Raffle was the best buzzer of the night with five starters, while Ms Williams and Mr McEwan were joint best for York with three each. On the bonuses, York converted 14 out of 24 (with one penalty), while Durham managed 24 out of 37 (with two penalties).
Next week's match: the first second round match; if I find any tweets saying who's playing, I'll retweet them.
Only Connect saw the Wickets play the Electrophiles in the second eliminator; both sides had some unfortunate near misses in a good contest, with the latter ultimately winning 24-18.
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