Greetings friends! So, the first Christmas UC series of the Amol Rajan era, one that was already noteworthy for all the wrong reasons before it had even begun for reasons you're probably already familiar with, so we won't discuss that more here. I will say that, once again, AR has risen to the occasion just like Paxo did in the Xmas specials with the more sardonic attitude towards the alumni teams. On with the shows themselves, the first week of them...
Monday 18th: King's vs City
King's: Chibundu Onuzo, Lucy Powell, Ayshah Tull, Ali Ansari
City: Zing Tsjeng, Martha Spurrier, Joe Crowley, Sebastian Payne
The series kicked off with a fine contest between two pretty decent teams; shame they had to face each other in the first round really. King's won the contest 155-120, two starters more than their opponents proving key and, unless Tuesday's winners beat their score, they'll be back in the QFs.
Tuesday 19th: Royal Holloway vs UEA
Royal Holloway: Tahmima Anam, Jody Talbot, Liz Sayce, Kayo Chingonyi
UEA: Karen Duff, James Scudamore, Bendor Grosvenor, Mohammed Hanif
Again, both teams gave a pretty fair account of themselves, but Royal Holloway were the better team in the end, pulling away into a strong lead and ultimately winning comfortably. 170-95 the final score, and they'll definitely be back next week.
Wednesday 20th: Dundee vs Bangor
Dundee: Susan Philipsz, Saleyha Ahsan, Holly Hamilton, Keith Harris
Bangor: Andy Clements, Juno Dawson, David Neal, Hywel Williams
Pretty comfortable win for Bangor this one, leading from the off and, though Dundee, again, didn't disgrace themselves, they were easily second best. The final score, 185-75, and Bangor will also definitely be back next week.
Thursday 21st: Corpus Christi Oxford vs Edinburgh
Corpus Christi: Francesca Happe, Michael Cockerell, Alex Bellos, Steve Waters
Edinburgh: Malcolm Fraser, Olly Smith, Ruth Davidson, Freddy McConnell
Very impressive performance from Corpus Christi, Mr Waters especially with a very good eight starters. Edinburgh were a perfectly decent team, as AR rightly said, and would've done better against another team probably. Corpus Christi's final winning score was 265-80, easily enough for a return.
Friday 22nd: Imperial vs Liverpool
Imperial: Mark Silcox, Helen Arney, Anjana Ahuja, Susannah Maidment
Liverpool: Jim Woodcock, Joyce Tyldesley, Ian Ritchie, Ann Limb
A low scoring contest to end the week, with both teams rather struggling with the bonuses, though, again, neither disgraced themselves. Imperial won 110-80, but the score won't be enough to bring them back.
So, Corpus Christi, Bangor and Royal Holloway are definitely coming back next week and, as I said, King's will do so too unless Tuesday's winners beat their score. It's been a good series so far, in spite of the controversy, and hopefully the second week will continue in the same vein.
Back next week, Hogmanay, with my write-up of the second week. Until then, have a safe and Happy Christmas, and sayonara...
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