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Matt O'Connor
Matt O'Connor octochamp statistics | |
---|---|
Final position | |
Seeding | 2 |
Points total | 949 |
Conundrums solved | 6 |
Matt O'Connor was an octochamp in Series 85, who made his debut in Series 65 under the name Matt Croy. He is a serving detective, formerly with Greater Manchester Police but now with Cheshire Police, and has been a member of Apterous since 2011.
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 6th 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 5 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 5-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 9 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, with an overall score of 949 points – 18 points fewer than Dan Byrom.
On 10 June, O'Connor returned to the show as No. 2 seed to start his finals run against fellow octochamp Dan Hall. Despite missing his declared target in the second numbers game, O'Connor broke away later on and won the game with another century to book his semi-final spot against another octochamp in Steve Hyde. O'Connor and Hyde were level pegging throughout the early stagea of the match, but once again O'Connor won more rounds to win by 40 points to set up a Grand Final match against the No. 1 prospect, Dan Byrom.
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.
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 |