Good evening again friends, and welcome back to Quizzy Mondays! Starting to wind down a bit now, with only one more OC after this week, and Mastermind and Counterpoint both about to enter their endgames as well. But, thanks to its later than usual start, UC still has plenty left to go. Tonight, the second preliminary pitted two teams who've, so far, seemed rather reliant on the buzzer to win, so interesting to see how they'd fare against stronger opponents on that...
Royal Holloway got here via two low scoring wins, firstly over Cranfield 155-110 in the first round, and then over St Andrews 145-90 in the second. They were the same foursome as those two previous games:
Joel Abramovich, from Highgate in London, studying Biology
Joanna Brown, from North London, studying Creative Writing
Captain: George Harvey, from Dunmow in Essex, studying Physics
Micka Clayton, from Richmond (originally South Africa), studying Music and Neuropsychology
Robert Gordon have won both their matches so far comfortably, firstly beating Roehampton 210-90 in the first round, and then Courtauld 180-75 in the second. They were also unchanged from before:
Samuel Fregene, from Nigeria, studying Analytical Science
Donald Anderson, from Aberdeen, studying Accounting and Finance
Captain: Emily Cullen, from Clonroche, County Wexford, studying Pharmacy
Faye Cooke, from Edinburgh, studying Professional Legal Practice
So, off we set once again, and an immediate error from Ms Cullen allowed Ms Brown to pick up where she'd left off by taking 'arrow' for the first starter; the London side took full advantage with a full bonus set on characters in the Hunger Games. A second starter from Royal Holloway's MVP gave them a full bonus set on computing, which they took two correct on this time. Robert Gordon got their first (positive) points on the board as Ms Cullen made up for the earlier error; two bonuses on Japanese architecture were taken. The first picture round, on lists of French verbs and their prepositions, went to Royal Holloway; another full bonus set took their second to 70-10.
That lead increased when Robert Gordon lost another five (to a 'just an' interruption); the London side didn't capitalise, but Mr Harvey took the next starter, and bonuses on author Audre Lorde gave them one correct answers. And when Ms Brown took the next starter, another sole bonus was sufficient to take them into three figures. Ms Cullen finally gave Robert Gordon some more points, giving them bonuses on map projections, which they took just one of again. The music starter was missed by both teams; the bonuses, on classical works relating to death scored in D minor, went to Royal Holloway, who took two bonuses, which increased their lead to 120-20.
Ms Cullen then gave Robert Gordon a third starter of the game; no bonuses followed, but a second starter in a row to the Scots side's captain was followed by a set more to their liking, on blue plaques in South Yorkshire, which they took two correct in. Ms Cullen went for a third in a row, but was wrong this time and lost another five, allowing Mr Harvey to sweep in and take the points; a full bonus set on Vogue magazine took the London side's lead back to three figures. The second picture round, on stills from films connected to the Algerian War of Independence, also went to Royal Holloway; one correct bonus took their lead to 160-45.
It was pretty much game over now; just a question of how many more points both teams could get. Mr Anderson took Robert Gordon back out of the Sub 50 club; one bonus on grime music was taken, and Ms Cullen did the right thing and took an amusing guess on another! She also took a second starter in a row to the Scots side, which was followed by another sole bonus. Ms Brown topped off her side's win with another starter, but they got nothing from a bonus set on marine mammals, not that it mattered now. There was time for Ms Cullen to take the last starter of the game, but no time for them to answer any bonuses. At the gong, Royal Holloway won 170-85.
Another rather slow scoring match in places, but still played well by two watchable teams. Well done to Royal Holloway, their best performance yet I'd say, and one that proves they're certainly capable of performing on their day; best of luck to them in the next stage! Hard lines to Robert Gordon, who were outplayed on both the buzzer and the bonuses, but they're still very much in the contest; best of luck to them next time as well!
The stats: Ms Brown and Ms Cullen were joint best buzzers of the match with six starters each. On the bonuses, Royal Holloway managed 16 out of 27, and Robert Gordon 6 out of 19 (with three penalties).
Next week's match: I am informed it is Newnham vs Bristol, followed by Jesus vs U.C.L. the week after
Only Connect paused before the
final next week for its third place play-off, with the Scrummagers and the
Morkporkians returning one last time. The former led 5-1 after the first round,
and 10-4 after the second. Two perfect walls made it 20-14 going into Missing
Vowels, and the Scrummagers maintained that lead and won 23-20 to take the bronze
medal. Next week, the final!
Mastermind’s final heat was a real
close one, ending with Stuart Field and UC and Countdown alumnus James Haughton
both finishing on 27 and no passes! Stuart just won that with two correct tie-break
answers to James’ one, and takes the last place in the semis, which start next
week. Aoife Gamble and Mike Wheeler also appeared tonight, scoring 12 and 24
respectively.
Counterpoint reached its final
heat as well; Jo East won that to take the final place in the semis, which also
start next week.
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