First round of the Cup/Plate

 

The Phoenix were back again at the Cock in Henbury this time to face the original quiz team, adversaries for many years.

Although Bob was back from his meandering, we sere still undermanned – both Rosie and Bosley were unavailable. Nevertheless we pushed on and in a friendly and fairly well matched game managed to take the round with a score of 84 to 64 that does no justice to the Cock.

The evening ended with an excellent selection of sandwiches and salad – many thanks to The Cock staff and team

Local Derby 16th October

 

The Phoenix and the Rams gathered for their first clash of the season at the Waters Green Tavern; to the Phoenix’ great indignation they were shifted from their normal seating arrangements to the visitors’ table on the grounds that it was the Rams’ home game!! Bob has still not resurfaced and Tony again manfully stood in as reserve; similarly Bosley covered for Rosie as the team mascot. Boz quickly stretched out and fell asleep causing Tony great discomfort as there was nowhere to put his feet and we were all too soft to shift Bosley.The Nags Head had not managed to gather a full quota of question masters and once again Tracey had to share her time with the cellar, the food and and acting as question master.

Whilst there were no distractions in the pub, there was much discussion about the England Poland World Cup game (that was postponed because they forgot to close the retractable roof in a downpour and the field was flooded!!) while the under-21 game against Serbia was a disgusting display of racism and violence.

The Phoenix really struggled in the Specialist rounds and at one stage were 20 points behind with Nick having failed to get onto the scoreboard. They were then very lucky with the James Bond round scoring 3 points each and 3 passovers ending the Specialist rounds with a deficit of 5 with 46 to 51.

The General Knowledge rounds were much more evenly matched and the scores were fairly even making it a real cliff-hanger. The picture above is not in fact the Derby, but the Irish St Leger – that finished  with a …. dead heat!! The Phoenix won those rounds by five points with 84 to 79 leaving both teams with 130!!!

Individual scores were Tomo 6/15, Wendy 15/12, Nick 3/27 and Tony 9/9; conferred points were 7/14 and 6/7 passovers. The Rams picked up 8/10 passovers.

It was a great game with a friendly spirit that was rounded off with an excellent feast of chicken curry with rice and chips. Thank you Tracey, and a big thank you to the Rams.

9 Oct HOME TO THE KNOT KNOWALLS

 

A tough game with two substitutes in the first home game of the season: Bob was wandering the country looking for a serai to park his caravan but thankfully Tony stepped in at short notice and put in  a strong performance; and Rosie could not make it but was replaced by Bosley a retired guide dog (Nick’s son’s).

The Knowalls are a very strong team from the Knot in Rushton Spencer who were promoted from the C League at the end of last season – their first!!

Once again the gods conspired against us; not only were Macc Town playing Gateshead but the Tavern was hosting Ladies’ Darts, a cribbage final and the quiz!! We were fortunate to have Tracey, owner/landlady of the Tavern, asking the questions – at times it got rather noisy but Tracey was able to restore order with that eloquence for which she is well-known . Both teams struggled with the questions, especially the Specialist that yielded very low individual scores ending with the Phoenix clinging to a very slender lead of 42 to 37. The General Knowledge saw some improvement but the Phoenix lead was slipping away.

The team was well-disciplined, wrong answers usually being given only when the rest had shown they had no idea; but conferrals did not always work as when Wendy had to compensate for a wrong answer about her home town Liverpool by correctly giving the correct answer to a question about bras, both conferred by Nick. Nick however confused Botticelli’s Primavera with Rubens’ Judgement of Paris, and wrongly accused the roué Liszt of an affair with Clara Schumann when it is widely believed to be Brahms.

Individual scores were Tomo 6/12, Wendy 9/12, Nick 3/18 and Tony 3/6; conferred points were 11/14 and passovers 10/12; The Knowalls picked up 7/12 passovers.

The General Knowledge finished with 78 to 74 to the Knowalls leaving a final score of 116 to 115 – a win by just one point to the Phoenix. Despite the distractions it was a most enjoyable game rounded off with a magnificent dish of sausages in onion gravy with chips and bread and butter. A double thank-you to Tracey and we look forward to the return match.

Bosley enjoyed it too – especially when he was rewarded with half a sausage!!

Away to the Cock-A-2 2nd October

“I hear the strain of strutting chanticleer: cock a doodle do”

The first game of the season, drawn against the Cock-A-2, - old adversaries who played at The Castle before its demise and then moved to the Cock at Henbury; a very good team who generally achieve what the Phoenix set out to do – fluctuate between the A and B Leagues and this game marked their return to face the Phoenix. A friendly bunch so please ignore the apparent criticism above from The Tempest.

The Cock is a large pub in Henbury on the outskirts of Macc with several large rooms, one of which had been set aside for the quiz. The staff are very pleasant and friendly and the Robinson’s beer is on top form. A warm and welcoming pub.

The questions had been set by the Oxford C and were received very favourably – a good balance covering a wide range. After the first round of Specialist questions the Phoenix had slipped into a  lead of 6 with 10 to 4 – hopes soared. However the next round saw the Cock-A-2 come storming back 13 to nil!! From then until the end of the Specialist the scores were fairly even but the Phoenix never managed to make up that deficit scores ending 68 to 60 in favour of the home team.

In the General Knowledge the first three rounds all went to the Phoenix who scored 33 to the Cock-A-2’s 25 thus evening the scores. However they could not keep up  the momentum and Cock-A-2 slipped further ahead with some storming rounds final score being 163 to 147.

Individual scores were Bob 15/21, Wendy 9/21, nick 9/9, Tomo 15/15, conferred 7/14 with 5/7 passovers; the home team picked up 9/10 passovers.

To lose with 147 points is pretty surprising, but it was a very friendly match ending with a tasty selection of sandwiches. The task is to repeat that total throughout the season!!