University Challenge: Repechage Play-Off 1: Lincoln vs Lancaster

So, we move on to the repechage play-offs. The first is always interesting, as it’s the first time we see a team a second time, so we can start to draw comparisons between matches, as well as comparisons between previous performances. So, moving on…

Lincoln College Oxford looked certain to defeat Manchester in their first match, but victory was snatched away in, literally, the final half second before the gong, seeing them lose 180-175. Even so, their score was the highest losing score of the first round, so they were clear favourites tonight. The unchanged team comprised:

Victor Jones, from South Africa, studying Plant Sciences

Michael Hopkins, from Haywards Heath in West Sussex, studying Biochemistry

Captain: Jackie Thompson, from Orange County, California, studing Experimental Psychology

Hugh Reid, from Winchester, studying History

Lancaster were more comprehensively defeated by Pembroke College Cambridge, losing 200-140 in one of the many steady but not spectacular first round matches we saw this year. Their team were also unchanged:

Alan Webster, from Preston, studying Resource and Environmental Management

Anne Kretzschmar, from Chesterfield, studying Environmental Modelling

Captain: George Pinkerton, from Surrey, studying History, Philosophy and Politics

Ian Dickson, from Stirling, studying Ecology and the Environment

So, on paper, Lincoln had the clear advantage over Lancaster, and looked clear favourites. But, that was the first round, this is the repechage. Previous stats mean nothing, as we found out.

Lancaster quickly got the first starter, Lincoln the second. Throughout the first half, the sides generally swapped starters, and, while Lincoln kept the opposition close, Lancaster managed, for the most part, to retain the lead. The shock was on.

While Lancaster stayed out in front, they never really managed to pull out to a meaningful lead. If Lincoln could get back on the buzzers like they did against Manchester, they could easily turn things around. The music round was on very obscure Elvis songs, and, unsurprisingly, Lancaster didn’t get any of them (not even Danny Boy, which Paxo seemed very annoyed they didn’t get!). But they still led 95-70.

Lincoln were buzzing in, but they didn’t really seem to have the power they did in the first round. Maybe that last half-second defeat took the wind out of their sails. By the second picture round, Lancaster led 140-100.

With all due respect to a very good Lincoln team, throughout the final phase of player, I was hoping Lancaster would hold on to the lead, and pull off the shock. Michael Hopkins, Lincoln’s best player in the first round, immediately buzzed in for the next starter, and pulled Lincoln back into the game. Now, could they get a few more starters to take the win? They couldn’t, but Lancaster could. In the final minutes, Lancaster got a couple more starters, and, although Mr Webster miscued on one, Lincoln were unable to pick up the points. At the gong, the shock was complete: Lancaster had won 165-120.

Definitely the first shock of the series (and we’ll likely have more to come). On paper, Lincoln were hot favourites, but Lancaster gave a good fight, and deserve the win. Alan Webster and George Pinkerton got four starters each, but just 12 bonuses out of 32 (with one late penalty) will have to be improved on in the second round. Jackie Thompson got four starters for Lincoln, who managed 10 out of 21. They’re very unlucky to go out this early, especially given the circumstances of their first round defeat.

Next week’s match: a Cambridge derby between Homerton College and King’s College (with LAM and OW reader James Gratrex)

As for Only Connect, another trouncing tonight, I’m afraid. Two good teams, but one was just better than the other by some distance. And that’s how these things go sometimes.