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.....and so to the
final games of the season with only next week's gala evening at the
Albert Club before we pack up our papers for the summer - but what a
good way to end...
VAL DRAPER CUP
FINAL:
Fifth Finger
beat Brains of Oak
in a real thriller at the Griffin getting home by the narrowest of
margins thanks to Barry getting a 2 on the last question. Well
done to both teams for a night to remember.
Here are the views
from either side courtesy of Kieran and Gerry (Fr M).
Kieran writes:
Cracking
game, lead changed at least four times and it needed Barry to get a
two
on the last
question to win it. Thankfully he eventually remembered to add
Bolton
to the list
of north west premiership clubs and the victory was ours.
Barry also scored the two of the night, possibly the season, by
correctly guessing that Emile Heskey's middle name was Ivanhoe.
Fantastic stuff!! That certainly was question of the week and
possibly of the year.
As always with
the Brains it was a good evening, played in a great spirit and very
close all the way through. Mike Heale kindly volunteered to QM and
so there was no lip from either team!
Gerry writes:
So, for the
second year running, an enthralling, nip-and-tuck final brings the
season to a close. This time it was the valiant Finger V who nipped it
right at the wire with the gallant Brains tucked in just behind them.
After the game, a breathlessly beer-sodden, yet stoically philosophical
Fr. Megson admitted to feeling well and truly tucked.
"Truly a finish
to end all finishes and the starter was quite yummy as well", he waxed.
"Going into the
final 2 questions there were still 14 teams in contention and I cannot
remember this ever happening in a Cup Final before especially since we
originally had fewer than 14 teams entering the competition. Any
ideas, Fr. Donely ??
"I must admit I
put my last fiver on Crystal Palace but in the end even they couldn't
halt Kieran's lot. I have always said there is a fine line between
being clever and being stupid and at the end of the day the Brains only
managed to stay on the stupid side by the narrowest of margins. I
feel confident that, under my expert tutelage, we can significantly
increase this margin next season. Sorry, gotta dash. I'm
doing some research into local occasions of sin and I don't want to miss
the climax".
Some excellent
questions and just about the right level of hardness for a Final.
What did the Plate Finalists think? (see below, Ed)
If I must quibble (and as usual, I must), there were a few
ill-considered pairings that brought tears to our eyes. We felt
that the excellent, thought-provoking Tyre connection question deserved
a more frisky bedfellow than the rather obvious and flaccidly lethargic
Orange connection one proffered. Also, Meryl Streep herself
confirmed at the post match interview that Out Of Africa did
indeed win Best Picture Oscar in 1985 as ventured by the Brains, not
Amadeus which romped home at the 1984 awards. But what the
heck, garçon, take these sour grapes back to the bar and replenish our
pots with the Chateau Holts 2004 with its mature yet reassuringly cheapo
little bouquet redolent of pork scratchings. Let's all join in and
congratulate Finger V for their magnificent Double achievement in what
has been an excellent season for all our teams with the possible
exception of Manchester City.
Gary and Mike,
have you worked out yet who we play in next season's Cup Final?
And finally
........................................as FR. M's old
kindergarten chum Reggie Bosanquet used to say before invariably losing
his biscuits over the weatherman's shoes...........
QUESTION OF THE SEASON: The award this year goes to a seasoned chestnut
but one that never fails to put Sister Roisin in an even more mellow
mood. So let's hear it for:
"Do any of you
sad losers want a drink?"
PLATE FINAL:
Ethel Rodin beat History Men in a somewhat one-sided match at the Red. It seems Ivor had chosen
to leave his team in the lurch and go away on holiday. Well I ask
you!!! I can't see Victoria telling David he can't go to Portugal
just 'cos she's booked to take the nippers to Florida, can you?
Anyway here is the
view from the victorious Ethel camp (courtesy of Roz):
Well!
Despite everything, Ethel Rodin finally got her revenge over the
History Men in the final of this year's Plate, after having been
beaten by them in the Plate final last year! We triumphed 35-23.
Luckily Ivor was away on holiday in Amsterdam with his family (half
term). His team missed him - especially in the first 5 rounds.
None of us
were greatly enamoured with the paper; there were some errors and
one very 'iffy' question (more later).
At the end of
Round 1, Ethel led 7-0 (if the date for the international match at
the Valley on 30th May had been correct - it was actually played on
31st May - the score would have been 9-0!). Round 2 was a
disaster for both teams, ending 11-0 to Ethel Rodin. By this
time, the History Men were beginning to wonder whether they would be
the first team ever to score 'nil points'!
In Round 3,
the Historians finally broke their duck with a 2-pointer.
There was a great deal of controversy over the question on
who composed the Magnificat and the Easter Oratario.
Several composers had, in fact, composed works with at least one of
these titles. The score at the end of that round was 16-2.
Controversy
hit us again in Round 4. Although the History Men, after
consultation got 'cross pean' correct, they queried the spelling
of 'pean' (according to my dictionary, it can be spelt 'peen', 'pein',
or even 'pane', but not 'pean'). And I believe it was Verdi
not Puccini who wrote Force of Destiny. Although Roddy sang
the tune, Ethel Rodin had no idea what the answer was! An inspired
guess at Ivanhoe (Emile Heskey's middle name) by Ethel, gave them a
bonus point. At the end of that round, the score was 20 - 5.
Mixed fortunes in Round 5, ending with the score at 25-7.
In Round 6,
History Men played a blinder, scoring three 2s, a 1 and a bonus,
against Ethel's two 1s; score 27-15. In Round 7, John Mellor
queried the more common name for Fireweed, saying that there was a
Canadian Fireweed, which is very small, but he finally plumped for
Rose Bay Willowherb. Both teams made reasonable scores with the
round ending 32-19 to Ethel.
In Round 8
there was controversy over whether it was, in fact, Brian Hanrahan
who famously said 'I counted them all out and I counted them all
back again', but, by this point Ethel's victory was in the bag and
the History Men most graciously conceded defeat.
Thus the
final score was 35-23. It was a terrific fight-back by History Men,
but too late.
Looking
forward to seeing you all on Wednesday, 9 June at Albert Park. I
have been assured that Ivor will bring 'The Plate' with him so that
it can be presented to Ethel Rodin. Perhaps our change of name this
season brought us 'Good Luck'; perhaps we will have better luck next
year if we change it again!
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