Orrell & District Quiz League

The AGM of the Orrell and District Quiz League was held last night with 6 teams represented. The only motion was a rule change to make ALL rounds free guess rounds. The motion was carried by 5 votes to 1. It was agreed to trial the rule change for next season when it will be reviewed.

The registration meeting will take place on February 11th 2018 at 8pm, when existing teams must register for the new season.

Pat Gibson of Millstone (and other stuff like Eggheads, Mastermind, Who Wants to be a Millionaire etc) recently won the European Quiz Championship to complete a career Grand Slam, having previously won The British and World titles.

At the competition held in Zagreb, Croatia, Pat beat several hundred other quizzers from all around Europe to take the Individual title, while also winning the pairs title with friend and fellow Egghead Kevin Ashman, and joining Kevin, Olav Bjortomt and Ian Bayley in the England team to win the European Team Championship.

There is an article on te Wigan Today website giving a nice writeup.

In the new and smaller venue of Orrell Cricket Club, 26 players and hence 13 pairs competed for this annual competition. After over 100 questions David Fitzgerald (Britannia) & Pat Gibson (Millstone) emerged worthy winners; Tony Robinson and Debbie Davidson (both Bryn Labour Club) finished a close second while Graham Barker (UCC Blues) & Paul Swindlehurst (Bryn PLC) were third.

Trophies were awarded to the League winners and runners up - UCC Blues and Millstone. Cup winners and runners up - Bryn PLC and UCC Blues and Plate winners and runners up - Millstone and Robin Hood

Thanks to everyone for attending and making the evening a friendly (if competitive) and enjoyable one.

Another reminder that this annual end of season event will take place at Orrell Red Triangle Cricket Club,Winstanley Road, Orrell, WN5 7XF, on Friday 3rd November starting at 8.30pm sharp. The venue is a new one and might not be familiar to everyone, so here are some directions for those without satnav. The Cricket Club can be found by turning up the track at the side of the YMCA at the bottom of Winstanley Road opposite Hewitt Business Park.

Anyone who participated in the games this season, is eligible to enter. Please come along to what should be an enjoyable evening

The order of the matches held at last night's Finals Night at The Delph Tavern was swapped due to a member of the Robin Hood team being stuck in traffic on the M6.  It was agreed by all teams to play the Cup Final first, with the Plate final to follow.

In the Cup Final Bryn PLC (Handicap 20) played UCC Blues (1) in a set by Carl Rennox.  UCC immediately started pegging back the 19 point handicap difference, reducing it to 7 points by the end of the third round.  At this point, Bry showed their mettle, winning the next two rounds and drawing round 6, taking the points difference back up to 16.  UCC Blues then staged a fightback, but it proved to be too late, with Bryn PLC finishing as winners with a score of 47-42.  Allan Pugh was Bryn's highest scorer with 13 points, with Chris Quinn scoring 17 for UCC.

After the delayed arrival of Gary Grant, the Plate Final got underway with Robin Hood having a 1 point handicap over the Millstone.  The match was nip and tuck for the first half, with a score of 22-22 at the changeover, but Millstone then pulled away to finish the match with a score of 51-37.  Pat Gibson scored a stupendous 29 points for Millstone, with Gary Grant and Sue Perks both scoring 10 for Robin Hood.

After a lot of confusion and running around caused by the failure of Royal Mail to deliver the question sets on time, the semi-finals of the Cup and Plate competitions were held on 5th September.

In the Plate, Robin Hood overturned a 15 point handicap to beat RH Colts and Millstone clawed back a 12 point handicap to beat Bryn Labour Club.

In the Cup, Bryn PLC beat Britannia with a score that meant that they would have won if both teams had been playing off scratch, and UCC Blues beat The Masons.

The finals will take place at The Delph Tavern on 12th Septermber, with the Plate final commencing at 8.30pm sharp.  The Cup final will follow later.

An new version of the scoresheet for the league has been designed to keep everything on one side of a sheet of paper.  This can be found here on the download page:

To allow quizzes to be assessed you should send a scan or photograph of the sheet to the results compiler - results@odquiz.org.uk or by mobile to 07904 923091.

After an exciting run in in which four teams were in with a chance of winning the title until just before the end of the season, UCC Blues just pipped Robin Hood to the top spot on the final night of the league season.  Prior to the matches, UCC were two points ahead of Robin Hood, but with an inferior points difference.  This meant that if UCC Blues lost to the Masons, Robin Hood could take the title on points difference by beating Millstone.

UCC Blues did their best to make this happen, throwing away an 11 point lead to lose to Masons by 2 points, but Robin Hood did not manage to pull off a win, despite being ahead of Millstone for much of the match.  This meant that Millstone finished second, with Masons in third and Robin Hood in fourth, with only two points seperating the top four teams.

On Sunday the draw was made for the Cup and Plate competitions to be played from 15th August until the final on 12th September. The games will be played as a handicap competition. New handicaps will be used based on the 18 matches of the current season. The draw is as follows:-

15th August. Preliminary round

Match 1   Bryn Labour (12) 34 v 42 (1) Robin Hood

Match 2   RH Colts (16)     37  v 46 (0) Millstone

22nd August  Round 1

Match 3   Bryn PLC (20)  49   v 47 (1)  Robin Hood

Match 4   UCC Blues (1)  48   v  35  (0) Millstone

Match 5   Delph (12)      45   v  46  (11) Britannia

Match 6   Masons (3)      44  v   38 (7)  Merrymen

29th August Plate Round 1

Match 10  Bryn Labour (12) 52   v  Delph (12)  45

Match 11  RH Colts  (16)   57  v Merrymen (7) 53

5th September  Cup and Plate semi- finals

                     Cup                                                            Plate

Match 7  Bryn PLC  (20) 63 v  Britannia (11) 44    Match 12  Bryn Labour (12) 42 v Millstone (0) 51

Match 8  UCC Blues (1) 58 v  Masons (3)  34        Match 13  RH Colts (16)   48   v Robin Hood (1) 51

12th September Cup and Plate Finals

              Cup final                                                Plate final

Bryn PLC (20)  v UCC Blues (1)               Robin Hood (1) v Millstone (0)

The Ormskirk Quiz League has a vacancy for a team for next season. All matches will be played using the two attempts rule throughout, as used in rounds 2 and 6 in the Orrell League.

The Robin Hood team is also looking for players.

If you are interested in joining Robin Hood please contact Mike Preston via birchleyeducation@hotmail.com or if interested in forming a new team via the Contacts page on the Ormskirk website. (www.ormskirkquizleague.org.uk)