Macclesfield Quiz League |
News & Views |
2018–19 Season |
Week 16 |
A League |
B League |
C League |
Cars & Vans 4U Trophy |
For a PDF version of this page, please click here.
By Haydn Thompson, with input from Mark Watson.
In Week 11 (29 January), two games were called off due to concerns about the weather:
• | Rushton Diamonds v. Waters Green Lemmings |
• | Cock Inn v. Robin Hood |
Neither the Lemmings nor the Cock felt it was safe to travel (the second game was due to be played at the Robin Hood). The League points were therefore awarded to the Diamonds and the Robin Hood.
In the B League, the Diamonds are pushing for promotion, while the Lemmings are in some danger of relegation; and there is a chance that either or both of these issues may be affected by the number of match points scored by the teams involved.
In the C League, the Robin Hood are already confirmed as champions and the Cock Inn's League position is unlikely to be affected in any meaningful way. Even so, in order to be strictly fair to all parties, the Committee has decided that the teams at whose request the matches were called off should be awarded the average scores for losing teams on that night in their respective divisions, and the other two teams should be awarded the average scores for the winning teams.
Match scores were not high in Week 11. The points awarded are as follows: Rushton Diamonds 129, Robin Hood 103, Waters Green Lemmings 114, Cock Inn 98. These points have been included in the League tables published below.
The League's only unbeaten record is no more, after the Chester Road Tavern's victory over the Robin Hood. Sympathy is due to the Robin, but this result must be all the sweeter for the CRT after they lost to the same opposition in the Plate competition back in January.
Also in the C League, the Brewers Arms were denied a fourth consecutive victory (against the Harrington 'B') by just four points. This was particularly unfortunate for the Brewers, as they were only able to field three players this week.
It was in Week 7 that the A and B Leagues' last unbeaten records came to an end, and both of those results were repeated in the reverse fixtures this time around: the Dolphin losing to the Waters Green Rams and the Harrington Academicals to the British Flag.
Like the Brewers, the Dolphin are perhaps entitled to consider themselves a tad unfortunate, as both of the Rams' victories were by just a single point.
The Dolphin's defeat means that they are unable to catch the Ox–fford, so the A League trophy will reside at the 73 and Pizza for the next twelve months. At the other end of the table, the Royal Oak's defeat has in all likelihood done little to improve the Dolphin Dragons' chances of A League survival.
The B League title is still up for grabbing by either the British Flag, Rushton Diamonds or Harrington Academicals, but the Nags Head have only a slim hope of taking the second promotion spot (especially as the Diamonds and Academicals play each other this week). A quick glance at the table might suggest that the Nags are not mathematically clear of relegation yet, but the fixture list means that they are in fact safe whatever happens.
In the C League, any one of the Park Timers, Chester Road Tavern or Sutton Club can still join the Robin Hood in promotion. There are also three candidates for the wooden spoon, and there's every chance that it might come down to the match between the Cock Inn and the Brewers Arms in Week 18.
Top scorer this week was Scott Dawson with 54. This was only Scott's fourth game of the season, and he has a very healthy average of 48 points.
Batting second in the team that went "first first", Scott got a full house in the General Knowledge questions; the two he didn't get were in Specialist rounds 5 and 7 (Two Wheels and Science: the Triumph motorbike named after the American speed test place, and the fabric obtained from the Angora goat.)
Special mention should also be made of Jim Moores's 45, which helped the Chester Road Tavern to become the first team to beat the Robin Hood this season (in the League). This equals Jim's All Time Personal Best (ATPB), which he last scored in the 2006-7 season.
In the A League there were two 48s (Mark Watson and Alan Hodgson), and three 45s (Graham Bailey, Ashton Davies and Peter McBride). Top scorer in the B League was Alasdair Reid with 42.
There were eleven personal bests this week, and fourteen people failed to better their lowest scores of the season.
Ox–fford | 171 | 156 | Royal Oak |
Mark Watson | 48 | 36 | Rosalie James |
Weaver | 159 | 170 | Church House Bollington |
Graham Bailey | 45 | 45 33 33 |
Ashton Davies John Hargreaves (pb Bob Gratton |
Dolphin | 167 | 168 | Waters Green Rams |
Alan Hodgson Peter McBride Derek Owen (pb) |
48 45 24 |
54 33 33 |
Scott Dawson (pb) David Reynolds (pb) Keith Pointon |
Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Total | Points | |
Ox–fford | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 2073 | 19 |
Ox–fford 'C' | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2018 | 17 |
Church House Bollington | 13 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 2085 | 14 |
Dolphin | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 1904 | 14 |
Weaver | 13 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 2120 | 12 |
Royal Oak | 13 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 1990 | 12 |
Dolphin Dragons | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1743 | 8 |
Waters Green Rams | 12 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1708 | 4 |
Team | Played | Total | Highest | Lowest | Week 16 | |
Mark Watson | Ox–fford | 11 | 546 | 57 | 36 | 48 |
Alice Walker | Ox–fford 'C' | 12 | 498 | 54 | 33 | |
Ashton Davies | Church House Bollington | 13 | 495 | 57 | 39 | 45 |
Alan Hodgson | Dolphin | 11 | 486 | 51 | 36 | 48 |
Haydn Thompson | Ox–fford 'C' | 12 | 468 | 51 | 33 | |
Peter McBride | Dolphin | 12 | 468 | 48 | 33 | 45 |
Graham Bailey | Weaver | 12 | 423 | 48 | 30 | 45 |
Alan Gilday | Weaver | 13 | 411 | 48 | 30 | 27 |
Ed Baron | Church House Bollington | 12 | 402 | 45 | 30 | 30 |
Keith Pointon | Waters Green Rams | 12 | 393 | 45 | 27 | 33 |
Waters Green Lemmings | 141 | 107 | Sutton Mutton |
Bob Langstaff Nick Peck Jon Thompson |
24 24 24 |
24 | Mike Proctor |
Nags Head | 148 | 156 | Park Taverners |
Alasdair Reid (pb) | 42 | 33 33 30 |
Graham Wallace Nick Crowdy Pete Dykstra (pb) |
Rushton Diamonds | 165 | 135 | Plough Horntails |
Brian Bogie Neil Scott (pb) |
39 36 |
30 30 |
Dave McGuinness Malcolm Asquith |
British Flag | 155 | 135 | Harrington Academicals |
Geoff Shaw (pb) Neil Drummond |
36 36 |
36 | Rob Parkin |
Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Total | Points | |
British Flag | 13 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 1943 | 18 |
Rushton Diamonds | 13 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 1882 | 18 |
Harrington Academicals | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 1790 | 16 |
Nags Head | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 1845 | 14 |
Plough Horntails | 13 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 1762 | 12 |
Park Taverners | 13 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 1758 | 10 |
Waters Green Lemmings | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 1584 | 10 |
Sutton Mutton | 12 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1440 | 2 |
Team | Played | Total | Highest | Lowest | Week 16 | |
Dave Partington | Harrington Academicals | 11 | 390 | 45 | 18 | 30 |
Rob Parkin | Harrington Academicals | 11 | 384 | 42 | 27 | 36 |
Graham Wallace | Park Taverners | 12 | 372 | 45 | 27 | 33 |
Wynne Keith–Davies | Sutton Mutton | 12 | 372 | 45 | 21 | 21 |
Brian Bogie | Rushton Diamonds | 10 | 366 | 45 | 24 | 39 |
Phil Davies | British Flag | 11 | 354 | 48 | 15 | 27 |
Art Higham | Rushton Diamonds | 11 | 354 | 45 | 24 | 33 |
Andrew Wright | Nags Head | 10 | 339 | 48 | 27 | 27 |
Malcolm Asquith | Plough Horntails | 12 | 336 | 39 | 27 | 30 |
Anne Jeater | Plough Horntails | 13 | 336 | 39 | 24 | 24 |
Harrington 'B' | 128 | 124 | Brewers Arms |
Tom Aindow (pb) Martin Biss John Green |
24 24 24 |
33 | Andy Ridgway |
Robin Hood | 137 | 146 | Chester Road Tavern |
Jim Kennelly | 36 | 45 27 |
Jim Moores (pb) Chris Moores (pb) |
Sutton Club | 147 | 92 | Cock Inn |
Wendy Brown | 30 | 30 | Jackie Hulme |
Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Total | Points | |
Robin Hood | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1680 | 22 |
Park Timers | 13 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 1588 | 15 |
Chester Road Tavern | 13 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 1611 | 14 |
Sutton Club | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 1514 | 14 |
Harrington 'B' | 13 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 1551 | 12 |
Pack Horse Bowling Club | 13 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 1521 | 9 |
Cock Inn | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1386 | 8 |
Brewers Arms | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 1438 | 6 |
Team | Played | Total | Highest | Lowest | Week 16 | |
John Green | Harrington 'B' | 11 | 321 | 39 | 18 | 24 |
Jim Kennelly | Robin Hood | 8 | 309 | 48 | 33 | 36 |
John Poyser | Park Timers | 12 | 291 | 36 | 18 | |
Wendy Brown | Sutton Club | 11 | 285 | 33 | 6 | 30 |
Andrew Fenton | Park Timers | 13 | 279 | 36 | 18 | |
Trisha Ridgway | Brewers Arms | 11 | 279 | 36 | 15 | 30 |
Andy Ridgway | Brewers Arms | 10 | 270 | 45 | 18 | 33 |
Jackie Hulme | Cock Inn | 11 | 267 | 42 | 9 | 30 |
Chris Butler | Sutton Club | 11 | 267 | 30 | 18 | 27 |
Mitch Moores | Chester Road Tavern | 12 | 252 | 30 | 12 | 24 |
For the full spreadsheet, please click here.
Week | Setters | Difficulty | Balance | Ent'ment | Total | Last Yr | ||
1 | 1 | GK | Ox–fford | 9.89 | 8.11 | 7.22 | 25.22 | 17.22 |
2 | 1 | Spec | Ox–fford | 10.00 | 5.80 | 7.17 | 22.97 | 24.69 |
3 | 16 | Spec | Pack Horse Bowling Club | 7.48 | 7.67 | 6.51 | 21.66 | 14.96 |
4 | 2 | GK | Dolphin Dragons | 6.40 | 9.01 | 6.22 | 21.63 | 17.65 |
5 | 5 | GK | Sutton Club | 7.92 | 6.97 | 6.33 | 21.22 | 19.98 |
6 | 14 | GK | Dolphin | 5.79 | 9.16 | 5.78 | 20.73 | 13.17 |
7 | 7 | GK | Ox–fford 'C' | 10.00 | 4.30 | 6.26 | 20.56 | 19.10 |
8 | 8 | Spec | Park Taverners | 7.11 | 6.57 | 6.72 | 20.40 | (11.45) |
9 | 3 | GK | Plough Horntails | 6.34 | 7.71 | 5.51 | 19.56 | 8.76 |
10 | 9 | GK | Rushton Diamonds | 5.78 | 7.65 | 5.39 | 18.82 | 14.14 |
11 | 9 | Spec | Park Timers | 9.92 | 1.44 | 7.00 | 18.36 | (23.61) |
12 | 2 | Spec | Dolphin Dragons | 5.66 | 6.24 | 6.22 | 18.12 | 20.42 |
13 | 13 | GK | Cock Inn | 7.60 | 4.93 | 5.56 | 18.09 | 7.42 |
14 | 3 | Spec | Plough Horntails | 2.35 | 9.87 | 5.76 | 17.98 | |
15 | 4 | Spec | Waters Green Rams | 3.17 | 9.36 | 5.39 | 17.92 | |
16 | 15 | GK | Waters Green Lemmings | 4.13 | 7.89 | 4.57 | 16.59 | 12.70 |
17 | 13 | Spec | Harrington Academicals | 7.32 | 3.01 | 5.83 | 16.16 | 18.04 |
18 | 7 | Spec | Ox–fford 'C' | 2.10 | 7.95 | 5.87 | 15.91 | 12.56 |
19 | 10 | GK | Robin Hood | 4.71 | 7.28 | 3.89 | 15.88 | (14.01) |
20 | 10 | Spec | Nags Head | 1.39 | 8.13 | 5.50 | 15.02 | (7.83) |
21 | 4 | GK | Waters Green Rams | 7.88 | 1.83 | 5.22 | 14.93 | 18.84 |
22 | 5 | Spec | British Flag | 5.47 | 2.58 | 6.72 | 14.77 | 24.61 |
23 | 8 | GK | Chester Road Tavern | 6.01 | 2.86 | 5.67 | 14.54 | 13.96 |
24 | 6 | GK | Harrington 'B' | 5.05 | 3.22 | 5.32 | 13.59 | (16.23) |
25 | 6 | Spec | Waters Green Lemmings | 2.86 | 4.89 | 4.97 | 12.72 | 14.47 |
26 | 16 | GK | Pack Horse Bowling Club | 5.92 | 0.00 | 5.96 | 11.88 | |
27 | 12 | Spec | Church House Bollington | 0.33 | 6.38 | 5.10 | 11.81 | 17.13 |
28 | 12 | GK | Church House Bollington | 1.94 | 4.86 | 4.82 | 11.62 | 14.74 |
29 | 15 | Spec | Harrington 'B' | 3.08 | 1.21 | 5.50 | 9.79 | 16.23 |
30 | 11 | Spec | Sutton Mutton | 0.00 | 5.90 | 3.17 | 9.07 | 11.5 |
31 | 11 | GK | Brewers Arms | 0.00 | 3.85 | 3.89 | 7.74 | (11.16) |
32 | 14 | Spec | Dolphin | 2.36 | 0.00 | 5.22 | 7.58 | 7.84 |
Not for the first time this season, it was a game of two halves for this week's questions – all of which were set by the Pack Horse Bowling Club.
Both sets scored well enough for Entertainment – the Specialists being in sixth place (out of 32) and the General Knowledge in twelfth. For Difficulty, the Specialists scored well (teams scoring on average 109% of their average scores) and the General Knowledge are in mid–table with an average score of exactly 100%.
It was on Balance that the two sets diverged. The Specialists were quite well balanced, according to the spreadsheet, but with a slight bias in favour of the teams that went first, who averaged 111% of their average scores while those going second averaged 107%. This gave the Pack Horse's Specialist questions an excellent total score of 21.66, putting them third in the current table – behind only the Ox–fford's two sets.
Unfortunately the spreadsheet detected a heavy bias in the General Knowledge questions, towards the teams that went first (second in the Specialists). The teams that went "second first" scored on average 108% of their average scores, while those going "first first" averaged only 91%.
Overall, according to the spreadsheet, there was a distinct bias towards the teams that went "second first": 108% to 99%. On an average team score of 140, this would have made a difference of 12 or 13 points. This may potentially have affected the results of one game in each division.
© Macclesfield Quiz League 2019