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Matt O'Connor

From Countdown
(Redirected from Matt Croy)
Matt O'Connor
Octochamp Statistics
Final positionRunner-up
Seeding2
Points total949
Conundrums solved6
Matt O'Connor in Series 65...
...and 11 years later in Series 85.

Matt O'Connor was an octochamp and the runner-up of Series 85, and a participant in Championship of Champions XVI. He first appeared as a contestant in Series 65 under his former name: Matt Croy. He lives in Warrington and is a serving Detective Constable, formerly with Greater Manchester Police but now with Cheshire Police, and has been a member of Apterous since 2011.

He is reportedly Rachel Riley's favourite contestant.

Appearances on the programme

Heat games

Matt began his Countdown début on 17 June 2011 as one of two brand new contestants following the octorun of the eventual series winner Graeme Cole. He lasted until his sixth show when he was narrowly defeated by a score of 90 – 91 after his opponent, Andrew Halliburton, correctly solved the conundrum MYQUARTER a fraction before the clock had completed 30 seconds. Matt's five wins and 538 points were not enough to reach the series finals.

Matt returned to the show 11 years later where he won his first game of his second run with a tight game against five-game winner Craig Fawcett with 113 to Fawcett's 77, thanks to spotting MALONATES for nine in the last letters round. Matt followed this with a personal best of 130 points, which he bettered by nine points five shows later. In his last heat of his second run, he spotted PREDATION for nine, but his opponent, Liam Moss, clawed back to near distance by spotting TABOURETS for nine in the next letters round. However, a disallowed word from Liam allowed Matt to eventually wrap up and become an octochamp. An appropriately scrambled police themed conundrum COPPERHIT was mis-declared by Matt, but this didn't prevent him from claiming his 8th century of his Octorun finishing with an overall score of 949 points – 18 points fewer than Number 1 seed Dan Byrom.

Finals

On 10 June, Matt returned to the show as Number 2 seed to start his finals run against fellow octochamp Dan Hall. Despite missing his declared target in the second numbers game, Matt broke away later on and won the game with another century to book his semi-final spot against another octochamp in Steve Hyde. Matt and Steve were level pegging throughout the early stages of the match, but once again Matt won more rounds to win by 40 points to set up a Grand Final match against the Number 1 seed, Dan Byrom; notably entering the game with two more series points than what Dan had accumulated when the finals matches are included.

As the statistics would indicate, the final was very close. Matt took an eight-point lead in Round 1 with OCTOPINE. His lead didn't last long, though, as Dan broke away with a successful six-small solution in Round 3, followed by EMPAESTIC for nine, putting Matt 20 points adrift. Matt managed to get back to just a five point deficit by spotting SUZERAIN and GOPURAM, however Dan extended his lead to 13 points by spotting LESIONED in the last letters game. An unsolved final numbers game by both players sealed the match in Dan's favour despite Matt bowing out with another conundrum solve. Matt was declared the series runner-up after the game finished 78 – 81, meaning that his total points for the series of 1,250 was one point fewer than Dan's 1,251.

Championship of Champions

Matt returned to the programme in January 2023 for a fourth time to participate in Championship of Champions XVI, where his opponent was Sam Cappleman-Lynes. Both players traded blows at the start of the game, but Sam eventually built an unbeatable lead before an unsolved conundrum got past both players. This meant Matt suffered his third defeat on the show, bowing out with a final points total of 1,957 points from 19 appearances.

This appearance meant that Matt is one of only three contestants in the history of Countdown to have appeared on the show under 4 different presenters, the others being Conor Travers and Dinos Sfyris.

Special episode

In late 2012, he was invited back to Countdown in a themed 'Law & Order' special episode against prison officer Craig Lingard. He was allowed to devote the show to the memory of his friends and colleagues Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes who had been killed on duty weeks earlier, he used his appearance as a fundraiser in their memory for the charity 'Care of Police Survivors' (COPS). This show was finally broadcast in April 2015.

Radio appearances

Matt has appeared three times on the Lee Blakeman breakfast show on BBC Radio Stoke. These were succeeding his Octorun, Series Finals and Champion of Champions appearances on Countdown. Lee, who is a self-confessed Countdown super fan, interviewed Matt about his experiences on the show and also played letters and numbers rounds against him live on the radio.


Preceded by
Florence Cappleman-Lynes
Series runner-up
Series 85
Followed by
Edward Byrne

Episodes

# Date Type Contestant 1 Score Contestant 2 Presenters Guest Lex Max
5288 17/06/2011 P Matt Croy 86 – 50 Barrie Crawford Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Jon Culshaw Susie Dent 117
5289 20/06/2011 P Matt Croy 96 – 45 Pete Snowdon Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 119
5290 21/06/2011 P Matt Croy 100 – 53 Mark Worsfold Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 119
5291 22/06/2011 P Matt Croy 95 – 86 Chris Hemingway Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 129
5292 23/06/2011 P Matt Croy 71 – 45 Kevan Nijjar Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 118
5293 24/06/2011 P Matt Croy 90 – 91 Andrew Halliburton Jeff Stelling Rachel Riley Tim Vine Susie Dent 114
S45 10/04/2015 S Matt Croy 91 – 66 Craig Lingard Nick Hewer Rachel Riley Paul Zenon Susie Dent 117
7741 15/04/2022 P Craig Fawcett 77 – 113 Matt O'Connor Anne Robinson Rachel Riley Giles Coren Susie Dent 144
7742 18/04/2022 P Matt O'Connor 130 – 6 Charlie Edwards Anne Robinson Rachel Riley Sophie Ellis-Bextor Susie Dent 133
7743 19/04/2022 P Matt O'Connor 118 – 20 Tom Parkin-Coates Anne Robinson Rachel Riley Sophie Ellis-Bextor Susie Dent 136
7744 20/04/2022 P Matt O'Connor 120 – 6 Anna Chandra Anne Robinson Rachel Riley Sophie Ellis-Bextor Susie Dent 125
7745 21/04/2022 P Matt O'Connor 123 – 74 Stewart Cairns Anne Robinson Rachel Riley Sophie Ellis-Bextor Susie Dent 137
7746 22/04/2022 P Matt O'Connor 102 – 53 Paul Merison Anne Robinson Rachel Riley Sophie Ellis-Bextor Susie Dent 142
7747 25/04/2022 P Matt O'Connor 139 – 34 James Campbell Anne Robinson Rachel Riley Justin Webb Susie Dent 144
7748 26/04/2022 P Matt O'Connor 104 – 78 Liam Moss Anne Robinson Rachel Riley Justin Webb Susie Dent 145
7781 10/06/2022 QF Matt O'Connor 106 – 58 Dan Hall Anne Robinson Rachel Riley Jay Rayner 125
7785 16/06/2022 SF Matt O'Connor 117 – 77 Steve Hyde Anne Robinson Rachel Riley Robert Rinder 122
7786 17/06/2022 GF Dan Byrom 81 – 78 Matt O'Connor Anne Robinson Rachel Riley Robert Rinder 136
7929 11/01/2023 CP Matt O'Connor 78 – 101 Sam Cappleman-Lynes Colin Murray Rachel Riley Heather Small Susie Dent 124