THE QUIZ LEAGUE: Brief welcome back for Exiles (From Oxford Mail)

THE QUIZ LEAGUE: Brief welcome back for Exiles

10:40am Tuesday 31st January 2012 in Columns By David Quinn

Albeit for one week only, it was wonderful last Thursday night to welcome old friends back into the fold.

For most of the nineties and noughties, the county quiz scene was dominated by the Bicester Civil Service, but with the imposition of swingeing cutbacks to Defence expenditure, the team were ousted from their long-time residence.

For a season or two they represented the White Lion (Steeple Aston), before work commitments forced, what we hope will be a temporary withdrawal from the leagues.

Graciously, the ‘Exiles’ (their new, self-styled moniker) accepted our invitation to participate in the Colin Ross Memorial Tabletop, named in honour of one of their former teammates, sadly no longer with us. They dusted themselves down and rolled back the years, winning the leg held at the Black’s Head (Bletchingdon), notching up a very impressive 146 points in the process. Sadly, this was not quite enough for our erstwhile pals to secure the trophy at the Kidlington Green Social Club, but they finished a creditable fourth overall, behind three Premier League sides.

Shrugging off the disappointment of a rather stuttering defence of their title, county champions, the Plough, have become a ‘tour de force’ in the tabletops. After successive victories in the ‘Sports’ and ‘1970s’ versions, the Wolvercote outfit completed the hat-trick, lifting the ‘Colin Ross’ (General Knowledge) by the narrowest of margins, winning on count back after the scores were level on 150, from the Six Bells (Headington), with the Bell (Grove) third, three points further back.

Attention this week diverts back to the league campaign, and there are two extremely eye-catching encounters.

Firstly, there is an intriguing clash in Eynsham where West Division pacesetters, the White Hart, entertain the Windrush Club (Witney), currently lying second. Victory for the visitors, and the season’s run-in could well prove to be a real nail biter. Equally mouth-watering, in the Oxford Division, frontrunners the Green Road Club (Kidlington), face a Black Swan side for whom a win will see them leapfrog their opponents and make a strong bid for the title.

Over in the East, and surely the Eight Bells (Long Crendon) and the King’s Arms (Wheatley) have their last chance to claw back the deficit on long-time leaders, the Green Dragon (Haddenham). The ‘Bells’ play the ‘Dragons’ in what amounts to a ‘four pointer’, with the latter reeling from recent back-to-back defeats, while the Wheatley side must see-off basement battlers, the Gatehanger’s Inn (Ashendon), to maintain any serious championship aspirations.

The Rock of Gibraltar (Enslow Bridge) are slight favourites to beat the Sun Inn (Hook Norton) and thereby keep their slender advantage in the North Division, but the Blue Boar will be looking to capitalise on any slip-up, although they face a tricky tie at the Black’s Head.

In the Premier Section, a win for the Chester Arms over the Royal Sun (Begbroke) could see them put daylight between themselves and their nearest challengers.