UC 50.34 - Magdalene, Cam vs Strathclyde
Finally, we have reached the last match of the quarter-final stage. Which is not to say it isn’t excellent, and that I don’t love it, but it has to be said that it goes on for a long time. All good things must come to an end though, and with Magdalene vs Strathclyde tonight we will complete the marathon 10-week double elimination double qualification bracket that has seen some brilliant contests, including all four of Mags’ and Strathie’s previous appearances in this round.
Magdalene blasted away Birkbeck by a score of 240-140, and then were pipped to the post by Warwick in another high scoring bout. Strathclyde meanwhile have won and lost a pair of low-scoring, but enthralling matches. One might have Magdalene down as clear favourites because of this (and their average score is 45 points better than Strathie), but I wrote the Scots off last time and they pulled off an impressive win, so I’m not going to set my stall out quite so bullishly this time around.
Starr-Marshall fails to repeat what had become one of my favourite twists to the contestant intro of all time (admittedly, not a difficult bar to beat when I generally consider the geographical flourishes - eg ‘I’m from Sunny Sydney, Australia’ - some of them give as a tad annoying), by not referring to himself as the Sassenach, perhaps considering it too playful for such a serious occasion.
Anyway, let’s not bother with the rules, here’s your first starter for ten...
Magdalene captain Lawson has been on excellent form since the restart, and continues this with the first starter of the night, a long-winded one to which JMW Turner is the answer. A hat-trick of bonuses on years with consecutive digits followed, as did another starter for Lawson, and a two more bonuses on weird fiction (though they miss out on China Mievelle, whose book The City and The City currently sits on my TBR pile).
Payne negs the next starter, but Whittle, wearing yet another fantastic jumper, narrowly misses out, giving Henry IV Pt II rather than Pt I. Byrne then took the next two to give Magdalane a commanding lead. Strathclyde would need to get in amongst the points soon if they were to have a chance - they’ve not scored more than 135 points since the first round, and Magdalene already have 90. This soon becomes 100, but the Cambridge quartet struggle with a set on space mountains.
The next starter is missed by Byrne, and Welsh is finally able to get Strathclyde some points. He is nominated by his captain on all of the mathsy bonuses, and manages two of them, before snaffling another starter. Perhaps they’re not out of this after all...
Paxman pronounces ‘isenthalpically’ in such a bizarre manner that it appears to confuse both teams - beyond the level of confusion that the question itself would induce - and neither of them get it. Payne chimes in with a second neg, which Whittle misses, but he makes up for it with the next starter. Their bonuswork isn’t really up to scratch though, and they fail to close the gap any further.
The music starter is Mahler, and Welsh is the first to recognise this, but still they struggle on the five pointers, and Davies stops their steady streak with the fastest buzz next time out. Another dodgy delivery from Paxman has the contestants narrowing their eyes, but Welsh figures out what he means and grabs his fourth starter of the evening. After the next set, which they blank, they’ve only answered 5 of the 15 bonuses, but two clutch buzzes from Welsh drag them back into contention and they find themselves only five points adrift!
The buzzer race on the second picture round is won by Whittle, but he is wrong with Caravaggio, and Lawson is right with Velasquez. We’re back out at twenty-five points difference. This becomes twenty with a Lawson neg, and then ten as Whittle exacts his revenge from the last question. Holy questions this is a great game - we’re back at fives!
An incredibly impressive buzz from Byrne on a complicated maths question seizes back the initiative for Magdalene, who rattle off a full set of bonuses (far easier, it seems, than some of the ones that Strathclyde have been getting). Another buzz from Byrne probably seals the game for Cambridge, and the gong tolls soon after. Phew, what a game.
Final Score: Magdalene, Cam 185 - 125 Strathclyde.
A fascinating game that, which can be broken down into three very odd thirds in terms of scoring.
Magdalene 100 - 0 Strathclyde
Magdalene 15 - 110 Strathclyde
Magdalene 70 - 15 Strathclyde
I thought Strathclyde might just pull off another shock there, but some excellent play from Mags at the death sealed it for them.
I’ll see you next week for the first semi-final, featuring two of Imperial, Balliol, Magdalene and Warwick.
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