A TEAM of students from the University of York were last night seen to fall at the final hurdle of their quest to win University Challenge.

The 40th final of the BBC2 quiz saw Chris Caudwell, Ben Keane, Simon Donnelly and team captain Andrew Clemo face Magdalen College, Oxford, but despite a promising initial start only gained less than a third of the points their rivals accrued, with a final score of 85 to 295.

The York team swooped in to answer the first set of questions, but struggled to gain points after the initial five minutes. Host Jeremy Paxman said to the York team: “There is no shame in going out as runner’s up – you were up against formidable opposition.”

Andrew said the experience had still been enjoyable: “I think we all really enjoyed the whole competition. We didn’t expect to get as far as we did, but it is a real bonus going through to the final.

“Magdalen College were an excellent team. We wish the best of luck to the University of York’s team next year.”

The four team-mates’ University Challenge journey began in December 2009, when they were among about 250 students who auditioned for a place on the York university’s team.

The team’s success in previous rounds include a nail-biter in the quarter-final against Oxford Brookes, who they beat by only five points before a convincing victory of 250 to 155 against Sheffield University in an all-Yorkshire semi-final, but the players were all sworn to secrecy about the result of the final until after its broadcast last night.

Either an Oxford or Cambridge team has won the title every year since 2007.