24th Jan Cup Quarter Final at the Plough

 

Back at the Plough this time to face the Horntails, sister team to last week’s opponents, the Taverners. the Lemmings once again enjoyed a warm welcome for the all-conferred quarter final of the Cup.

Question master duties were shared by Pat Jeater and Brian Bogie and it must be said that this was an outstanding double act and it would be good to see them sharing responsibilities in future Cup or Plate games – perhaps the finals? With light humour and an excellent balanced set of questions the game sped along interspersed with snippets of memory from all around the room. This really was a most enjoyable evening and will be long remembered.

The winner of each of the six rounds swung from team to team, scores being  (home team first) 12/22 12/24 20/17 13/17 17/19 and 21/13 – final score 112 to 95 for the Lemmings.

The game was rounded off with a varied selection of sandwiches and general agreement that it had been a most enjoyable evening. Many thanks to the landlord (who came to wish us farewell as we left), the Horntails and especially to Pat and Brian.

17th January Away to the Plough Taverners

 

The Plough now seems a lot brighter since the makeover and change of managers – the odd sepulchral green light outside has been replaced with bright lights and the interior is lighter the beer however remains the same – Black Sheep and Tetleys.

The Taverners are old friends and at the last confrontation they beat the Lemmings by just 4 points – this wasn’t going to be easy.

Nevertheless it was a good spirited game, so relaxed that Bob hit form with jokes that have not been heard before!! The answer to Science and Nature question 2 he thought was a description of a zoo that doesn’t have any penguins! And to Q5 in Sport he offered the answer water polo (both as asides not formal answers).

The questions had been set by Church House Bollington, brought together by Ed following the sad loss of Rick Davies after whom a new trophy will be named. They were original and testing and met with a very favourable reception, particularly by the Lemmings as they played to their strengths giving them a lead of 59 to 48 at the end of the Specialists. Whilst sports questions may have been a little heavy in the General Knowledge this too was to the Lemmings advantage, Matt in particular picking up 30 points contributing greatly to the Lemmings score of 93 to the home team’s 74: final score 152 to 122

Individual scores were Bob 9/15, Matt 15/30, Nick 6/12 and Tomo 12/15; conferred points were 8/10 with 9/11 pass-overs. The Plough Taverners picked up 8/5 pass-overs.

Mention must be made of the question master Scott from the Rams who was very good on timing (a frequent cause of complaint by the Lemmings) and controlled the game in a relaxed manner.

There was a generous offering of sandwiches (ham and cheese) nfor supper – many thanks to the landlord, to the home team and to Scott for a most enjoyable evening.

10th January - Would the Academicals Teach Us A Lesson

 

With hollowed eyes and bloated bellies following the Christmas/New Year break the Lemmings were again facing old friends the Harrington Academicals for the second half of the League – at the previous meeting, the Lemmings had scraped home by just 5 points so we knew we’d have a tough game ahead.

Once again there were distractions, but fortunately this time they were not in the pub – Manchester United were playing Hull City in the League Cup whist closer to home Macclesfield Town were facing Dover in the League; the TV was switched off and there were no competing darts so apart from the occasional chat at the bar the games was held in relative serenity.

The Specialist questions had been set by the Cock-A-2 and were quite challenging although Tomo scored well and one in particular was immediately nominated for the Nine Banded Armadillo trophy (Geography 1) – the subsequent question could also have been nominated but Tomo knew the answer. In fact Tomo had a very good round. At the end of this phase the Academicals had a narrow lead of 58 to 56.

The General Knowledge were set by  the Park Timers and whilst there were some murmurs about imbalance (after all, they’re all easy if you know the answer) were well received with Matt in particular having a very strong run. Although again there was some discussion about one question in particular Q22 (What foodstuff is a berliner) – the Academicals answered with sausage that was declared incorrect and the Lemmings (with Kennedy’s speech in mind) answered doughnut (the given answer) and were given the point. The Academicals then took advantage of the new rule and referred to Wikipedia (?) and said they were right and got three points – the Lemmings accepted this graciously but I’m not at all sure having since checked – no doubt Bob and perhaps others will have something to say about this. It made little difference to the points as the Academicals won those rounds with 99 to 93 and says much about the spirit of the evening.

Final scores were a victory to the Academicals with 157 to 149, individual scores being Bob 9/9, Matt 3/30, Nick 3/15 and Tomo 21/18; conferred points were 8/14 with 9/7 pass-overs. The visitors collected 6/8 pass-overs.

United and Macc Town both won, results 2-0 and 2-1 respectively. Brian then produced an excellent selection of sandwiches and pickles  to round off the evening. Many thanks to Brian to the Academicals and to the question master Jeff and his timekeeper for an enjoyable evening