Evening all. An unusual show tonight, in that we had no idea who would be competing in it. Until shortly beforehand, when Thomas De Bock revealed all on Twitter. So, tonight, we would be seeing the two teams that survived via the play-offs and then won through to the QFs, the first time both have done so since the 2011-12 series. They were also, incidentally, the only two teams to win a game of UC in the entirety of November!
Jesus College Oxford lost to fellow quarter-finalists Manchester in the first round, but snuck past Sheffield 170-165 on the last starter of their play-off, and then defeated Birmingham 150-120 in the second round. They were unchanged from those previous games:
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
Durham were beaten by fellow quarter-finalists Trinity first time out, but more than made up for that subsequently with very comfortably wins over York (240-145) in their play-off and Southampton (245-95) in the second round. They were also the same four as before:
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 picked up where he and his side left off last time, taking full advantage of an immediate slip-up from their opponents to take the first starter of the night; two bonuses on cities purpose built as capitals went with it. Jesus quickly recouped their lost points as Mr Cashman identified Maine Road as the street renamed after a US state and later the location of a (much missed) football stadium; the Oxonians took one bonus on fashion designers. Mr Cooper doubled Durham's early lead as he took the next starter, and another pair of bonuses went with it. The first picture round, on lists of the works of an author regularly used on the Google Scholar database, went to Durham; another two bonuses gave them a lead of 60-10.
Mr Cashman closed the gap somewhat as he identified the works of John Ruskin for the next starter; another single bonus on economic terms accompanied it. Back came Durham, with Mr Bland identifying 'FEN' as the word spelt by the letters Paxo supplied clues to; the Wearsiders' bonus consistancy continued, another two. That record fell on their next set, a full set on astrophysics. Mr Raffle gave them a third starter in a row by identifying 'stick' as the word that could follow the words listed; another two bonuses, on Venetian art, meant they already led by over 100 points, and were close to already being out of sight.
Mr Raffle looked like he was guessing when he offered JS Bach for the music starter, but he was right; the bonuses, on pieces whose string sections do not contain a violin, saw Durham draw their first blank of the night, but they had still racked up a lead of 140-25. With his side in danger of falling out of sight, Mr Cook dragged Jesus back into the game by identifting the Ohm as the only SI unit that uses a Greek letter as its symbol; however they could only manage another single bonus on writer/actors (I got two). Ms Clarke gave the Oxonians a second starter in a row, but technical terms gave them, again, just another one correct answer. The next starter asked which two countries one would come across travelling due East and West from St Helena; Mr Raffle came in a bit too early, had he waited, the giveaway clue that both their languages are Portuguese would likely have given him Angola and Brazil. Mr Cashman did the honours, and the bonuses finally fell for the Oxonians, a full set on Of Mice and Men (which Hal Roach once considered making a version of starring Laurel and Hardy!). Mr Cooper reawoke his side by identifying 'pi' for the next starter; the work of Handel gave them one correct answer. Mr Cook gave his side another starter with garden cities, and with it, a bonus set on terms with a middle letter X; they took two, and humourously offered 'Paxo' for the one they didn't know!
Neither side identified the Commodore 64 computer for the picture starter; the picture bonuses, on computing milestones, eventually went to Durham, who took one and missed another by misidentifying the NES as the N64! They now led 160-100, and, with not much time left, were within sight of victory. Mr Tams took the next starter, and a full bonus set on wildlife pretty much wrapped things up.
Ms Clarke pulled one back for Jesus by identifying Baz Luhrmann as having acquired his nickname from Basil Brush, but the Oxonians got nothing from a bonus set on Mount Ararat (if my Dad was watching, I hope he didn't miss his chance to shout 'Turkey' at the TV screen in honour of that Family Fortunes incident!). Mr Cooper took the final starter of the night, and that was the gong; Durham won 195-110.
A good contest played in good spirit by both sides, well done both. Unlucky Jesus, but a fair effort, best of luck in the eliminators. Well done Durham though on another strong performance, and very best of luck in the qualifiers!
The stats: Messrs Cooper and Raffle were the joint best buzzers of the night with four each, while Mr Cashman was best for Jesus with three. On the bonuses, Jesus converted 9 out of 21 (with one penalty), while Durham managed 19 out of 30 (with two penalties).
Next week's match: Imperial vs Courtauld
Only Connect began its quarter-finals with yet another avoidable rematch, the Lexplorers vs the Suits. Both teams fared better than they did last time they played, but this time, it was the latter that triumphed, 21-16.
On the subject of avoidable rematches, it is interesting to note that if the draw for the rest of the UC QFs follows the same format as the last couple of years, the first qualification match will be a Trinity v Durham rematch, and the first elimination match will be a Jesus v Manchester rematch.
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