Good evening again friends, and welcome back, for the penultimate time this season, to JOW! So, here we are at the second semi-final, and the penultimate game of the Jeremy Paxman era. I know I said it last week too, but I'll reiterate: he's the only host of UC I've ever known so, unlike the older generation who grew up with Bamber Gascgoigne, seeing someone else there next series will look most wrong to me. Anyway, we'll worry about that next series; lets finish off this one first...
Bristol lost to Durham in the first match of the series, but have been pretty impregnable since, beating Oriel of Oxford, Queen's of Belfast, Newnham and U.C.L. to reach the semis. They were the same foursome as those previous games:
Sam Kehler, from Wolverhampton, studying Medicine
Jacob McLaughlin, from Gloucester, studying Economics and Maths
Captain: Tess Richardson, from Reading, studying Chemistry
Alejandro Ortega, from Chalfont St Peter, studying Physics and Philosophy
Southampton were winners over Balliol of Oxford and Christ's of Cambridge in the first two rounds before they too lost to Durham, but wins over Robert Gordon and Newnham also have taken them through. Thy were also the same quartet as all those previous matches:
Ethan Lyon, from Northampton, studying Film
Magda Steele, from Poland, studying Ecology
Captain: Dom Belcher, from Worcestershire, studying Machine Learning
Elliot Miles, from the Wirral, studying Marine Biology
So, off we set once again then, and Mr McLaughlin took the first starter of the night for Bristol; one bonus followed, before Southampton immediately took the lead with a starter and two bonuses. Bristol retook it through with two successive starters, including the first picture round, on symbols of religions that originated in India, after which they led 45-20. Mr Lyon took another starter to Southampton, and two bonuses pulled them within ten points again, but that would be their final points for some time as Bristol clicked into gear and ran away on the buzzer with the bonuses also falling nicely for them. After the music round, on composers associated with the Societe Musicale Independante, Bristol had stretched their lead to 125-35.
And it was just going upwards, as, what looked like, an educated guess from Mr McLaughlin on the next starter took the lead to 100 points. A penalty finally allowed Southampton back into the game, but they only took one bonus, and a penalty of their own gave Bristol possession back and pretty much ended any chances of a fightback. After the second picture round, on photomontages, Bristol led 165-45. Southampton did deservedly avoid joining the Sub-50 club and lift themselves up to a healthier score in the final straight, but Bristol kept pushing as well and reached 200 with a single bonus from their final set. At the gong, Bristol won 200-70.
Another one-sided yet enjoyable contest between two very watchable teams, as has been the case so many times this series. Well done Bristol, another excellent performance, and it certainly sets up a most intruiging final next week; best of luck in it! Hard lines to Southampton, who were simply outplayed, but they were worthy semi-finalists and we know they're capable of better performances than that; thank very much indeed for playing!
The stats: Mr McLaughlin was, by far and away, the best buzzer of the night with NINE(!) starters, taking his running total to 38, while Messrs Lyon and Miles were joint best for Southampton with two each, though Mr Belcher was their best for the series as a whole with 29 over six matches. On the bonuses, Bristol managed 17 out of 36 and Southampton 5 out of 13, and both sides incurred one penalty.
Next week's match: the final! A Durham vs Bristol rematch! A most appropriate way for the series to end exactly nine months after it began! As I've said before, though, I'm away next week, so my review won't be until Saturday (the 3rd of June) at the earliest. A preview will, hopefully, be coming later this week.
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