By: Fabian Ledgister, Staff Reporter

Munro's Schools' Challenge Quiz team. - Ian Allen

Despite a valiant effort from Manchester's DeCarteret College, the seventh match in round one of TVJ's Schools' Challenge Quiz 2007, ended in a resounding victory for quiz veterans, Munro College.

For the most part, both teams ran almost head-to-head on the score sheets, until the buzzer section. By the end of section one, Munro held a marginal lead with seven points, against DeCarteret's six points.

A similar trend prevailed for the second section, where DeCarteret. maintained the pace of their rivals, who almost seemed mechanical in their modus operandi, as they attacked each question with unison, communication, and lightning speed.

But the resilient knowledge base of DeCarteret team members such as Ishamel Reid and Deidreann Burrell held the Mandeville-based institution in the game. By the end of round two, the scores stood at 20 for D.C., and 24 for Munro.

But experience soon prevailed, as the swift and aggressive execution of Munro allowed them to excel in the buzzer section, with their decisiveness and confidence in attacking the third segment's questions.

Lose confidence

D.C., however, finally showed weakness in their confidence, and after two errors they almost seemed to lose confidence in themselves and attempted far fewer questions than their rivals.

As a result, the match ended in a decisive victory for Munro, as their impressive performance in the buzzer section skyrocketed their score to 44, while D.C. held at 24.

Team coach for D.C., Ralston West, indicated that he was proud of his team, despite their 'fall-off' in the third round.

"We fell in the buzzer section. They knew the answers, I could see it, but they were just slower to the buzzer," said West.

D.C. team member, Deidreann Burrell, agreed that although they played a good match, the third round facilitated their demise."I think the match went well, we were a bit slow to the buzzer, and a little too cautious ... I don't know about the other team members, but I was nervous," said Burrell.

NEXT MATCH: Black River High vs. St. Elizabeth Technical High.