Evening all. On to the first elimination match of the quarter-final process then, with the runners-up of tonight's match being the first to exit the competition. Both teams had rather similar runs to the QFs, narrowly winning their first match before comfortably winning their second. Both were outplayed, albeit by different margins, in their first QFs though.
Manchester defeated fellow quarter-finalists Jesus in their first round match, before a more comfortable win over Huddersfield in their second. Their first QF, however, saw them thoroughly beaten by Trinity, 300-95. Hoping to bounce back were the unchanged foursome of:
Jack Rogers, from Cheshire, studying Maths
Melissa Johnson, from South Africa, studying Economics
Captain: James Green, from the Wirral, studying Modernist Literature
Adam Booth, from Greenford in London, studying Physics
Wolfson College Oxford beat Sheffield on a tie-breaker in the first round, before a more comprehensive semi-final win over Edinburgh. Their first QF against Corpus Christi was a more close affair, which they ultimately lost 180-140. They were also unchanged from those matches:
Mike Perrin, from Japan, studying Archaeology
Mary Caple, from Victoria, Canada, studying Art History
Captain: Claire Jones, from Houston, Texas, studying History
Ryan Walker, from Stone in Staffordshire, studying Clinical Medicine
Off we set again then, and Ms Jones, who went into this match the joint highest starter answerer of the series thus far, continued her form by taking the first starter; just one bonus on the work of Eglantyne Jebb was taken. The Wolfson captain took a second starter in a row, but bonuses on video games didn't give any further points. Mr Booth took a flyer on the next starter, which needed a fraction, but only lost five; Wolfson failed to pick up. Mr Green, easily his side's best player thus far, recouped that loss as he took the next starter, and kicked right into gear with a full bonus set on thermodynamics. The first picture round, on seas in the Arctic Ocean, went to Manchester; no further points came, but they had taken the lead, 30-25.
Mr Green was unlucky on the next starter, offering 'Fanny Burnett' in lieu of 'Fanny Burney'. ("No point in sighing like that, he was wrong!" snapped Paxo at the sympathetic audience!) Mr Rogers made up for that by taking the next starter though, but, again, the side struggled with the bonuses, just the one taken. Mr Green gave a fourth starter in a row to the Mancunians, but no bonuses were correctly taken this time. Ms Jones reawoke her side, and the bonuses did fall for them, a full set on the operas of Mussorgsky.
The music starter saw Ms Caple first to identify T-Rex; the bonuses, on acts who have notably performed at Glastonbury, gave Wolfson one correct answer, which meant they now led 65-55. The next starter asked after the common name of a tree, and suddenly became obvious when 'used to make bottle stoppers' was read out; Ms Jones was first in with 'cork', but, on a night when both sides seemed to be struggling with the bonuses, another sole one was taken. Mr Booth pulled Manchester back into the game; two bonuses took them back with five points, and a quick buzz from Mr Rogers took them back into the lead, with another two bonuses following. Ms Caple pulled one back for Wolfson, and one bonus put the teams on level pegging again.
The second picture starter was dropped; the bonuses, on stills from performances of the English National Ballet, went to Manchester; one bonus gave them a lead of 110-95. Back it closed though, as Mr Walker quickly took the next starter for Wolfson; again, though, the bonuses didn't fall for them.
Still either team's game, and Mr Rogers made it advantage Manchester as he took the next starter; bonuses on the names of vegetables in foreign languages followed, giving two correct answers. Back came Wolfson with Mr Walker doing the honours again; this gave them bonuses on Dickens, of which they took just one (I had two). Ms Caple took the final starter to pull Wolfson level, but their conferring on the first starter was cut off by the gong! A 130-each tie.
So, we went to sudden death. Mr Rogers was first to buzz, but he was wrong, and he'd (just) interrupted too, so minus five, and Wolfson won the game by default! (First time that's happened in the student series since the 2002-03 QFs!)
A low scoring, but close match, that neither side deserved to lose in all honesty. Unlucky Manchester, but a fair performance to go out on, thanks very much for playing. Well done Wolfson though, and best of luck in the play-offs!
The stats: Ms Jones was the best buzzer of the night again, with four starters, while Mr Rogers was best for Manchester with three, though Mr Green was their best of the series overall with 16. On the bonuses, Manchester converted 11 out of 24 (with one penalty [in regular time]), while Wolfson managed 8 out of 25. Both teams struggled on the bonuses then, so it was on the buzzer that the match was won, in more ways than one.
Next week's match: Durham vs Imperial I guess, followed by Jesus vs Courtauld
Only Connect concluded its QFs with a third avoidable rematch, between the Orwellians and the Turophiles; after trailing after the second round, a better wall and Missing Vowels saw the latter win 20-12, meaning none of these replays saw the same team win.
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