ELIMINATION Stations

Would it be unfair to blame my Aunt's 60th birthday party for the delay in getting this post written? Yes? Okay, in that case, we're not going to blame it on that (although I'm sure you can come to your own conclusions as to whether it played any small part).

So we've got another double review in hand today. Two more quarter-finals. The last post somehow netted two new subscribers direct from Google, which means that I either got lucky, or the mere thought of doing something about my SEO resulted in real-life improvements to my SEO. Who knows.

Anyway, here's hoping that many more of you happen upon this website from the wild west of the Google search results.

And here's your first starter for ten.

Sheffield and Imperial were facing off for the second automatic semi-final berth. Both had come through the repechage having lost their first round matches, showing how useful a feature that is for saving good teams who got a tough draw.

Price kicks things off for Sheffield with lemongrass, and they took one bonus on Measure for Measure. No one knows that York Minster houses the only memorial to women who died in the First World War, before Price grabs his second starter with a rapid buzz of Western Sahara.

O'Flanagan gets Imperial going with liberty, and they took a pair of bonuses on particle physics.

The picture starter devolves into a game of 'guess two German cities', and neither Price nor O'Flanagan manage the correct pair. Elsisi won the bonuses for Sheffield with mark-up language, and they extended their lead with two bonuses on guidebooks.

Hitting back with colonel, O'Flanagan closed the gap, winning a bonus set on French cheeses. He pulls roblochon from nowhere on a bonus, having surmised that the answer would probably be in Old French. Norway gives him a third starter and Imperial were back within five points, despite a very ominously delivered incorrect guess of Big Data from O'Flanagan.

On another bonus, Rajan teases them by saying, 'I'm sorry but I have to take your first answer... Fortunately for you, it was correct!'

The first misstep of the match comes from Price, allowing O'Flanagan to capitalise with Badlands.

The music starter goes to Lewis with Grieg, and one bonus on types of dances saw them waltz back into the lead.

Half-time: Sheffield 70 - 65 Imperial

Tong's Palladium catalyses a good run for Imperial, who are first to cross the hundred-point mark.

Guessing Edinburgh rather than Glasgow on a Scottish cities question, O'Flanagan commits his first error, allowing Dobbie in to sweep up.

Keung then takes the second picture starter for Imperial, and his captain makes up for the earlier blunder with a very enthusiastic buzz of blackberries. He then unmakes up for this with a bold guess of deposition, but Sheffield can't take advantage, and he is able to immediately re-make up for it with King John. When he takes the next starter with quench, he is pre-making up for a neg of tomato on the following question. Phew!

That's 8 right and 3 wrong, but Imperial are now 70-points clear, and despite a good closing run from Sheffield, they are unable to bridge the gap.

Sheffield 120 - 160 Imperial

A sublime performance from O'Flanagan and his Imperial side, despite the three incorrect interruptions. He seems to be one of the most focused contestants we've had for a while, and this drags his team over the line when they need it most.

Sheffield need to channel some of O'Flanagan's aggression if they are to join Imperial in the semis.

Onto the next, which saw Darwin play Warwick in an ELIMINATOR (sounds a lot more dramatic if I put it in caps, doesn't it?)

Here's your (second) first starter for ten.

Cameron kicks things off for Darwin with Proserpina (or Persephone). Two bonuses on Roman poets put them 20-points clear.

The sides then play a game of 'guess two Baltic countries', but neither can name both - they each get one.

A rapid buzz on a question about semiconductors (do semiconductors make things rapidly buzz? If so, please imagine that the previous sentence is a pun) gets Levesley and Warwick off the mark.

Archery and horseback racing gives Strachan an excellent starter, and he also takes the picture starter with Skye, based on a photo of the bridge to Skye, which always looks unreasonably steep. Murakami, from Cameron, keeps Darwin rolling, and they stretch their lead to 60.

Hubble keeps Warwick in it, but White hits back a question on oranges. Howarth correctly guesses Houston, and after the music round the gap is down to 30.

Half-time: Darwin 95 - 65 Warwick

Cameron kierks off the second half with Kierkegaard, and another ten-pointer from the skipper wins them a bonus set on Irish mythology, of which Ni Mhuircheartaigh dispatches two.

No one knows that Old Trafford is the biggest stadium in the Premier League, but Ni Mhuircheartaigh knows about affine transformations, and Darwin are in cruise control.

Levesley knows that it is time to go for broke, but loses five points with an early guess. Kluzowski backs up his captain on the next starter, but they can't keep up any momentum, with White taking eucalyptus on the second picture starter.

A hat-trick of bonuses, combined with a Darwin neg, allowed Warwick to close the gap by 30 points on one set, but once again, there was White, buzzing with canossa to stop them in their tracks. With mere minutes to play, that was the dagger. Game over.

Warwick racked up a decent score, but remained 50-points adrift at the gong.

Darwin 175 - 125 Warwick

Darwin continue to make a mockery of my second round power rankings, when I had them 16th. They face Merton in the last quarter final, after Manchester vs Sheffield next week. My rankings would have Merton as heavy favourites for that match, but what do I know.

I have no family member birthday parties coming up, but I may well find another excuse. So you better subscribe in order to counter-act the effects of my shambolic scheduling.