The form book went out the window when eight VUWAFC sides participated in the inaugural Roy Dickson Cup. An early Sunday morning start didn’t deter the roughly 70 players that gathered on Boyd-Wilson for the 7-a-side tournament.
This was one of the events to celebrate the club’s 75th anniversary, open to all club teams below the senior squads. The Accies and Beavers were top seeds. They were joined by the Scarfies, Unicorns, Wanderers, Cycles, Women’s Unified and the club newcomers, the revitalised Unibrow.
Omens weren’t good when one of the Women’s Unified players dislocated a finger in the first minute of the first game against the Scarfies. However, that was only serious casualty for the day, unless you count a mustard bottle that exploded during the BBQ.
The Wanderers caused the first upset, scoring in the last minute of its match to beat the Accies one-nil. Surprise package in pool play were the Unibrow; they beat the Accies and the Wanderers to take out Group One. In Group Two, the Beavers won all three of its three matches to finish top, followed by the Unicorns.
Unibrow continued their form into the quarters, beating the Women’s Unified. The Beavers, Cycles and Accies also won (the Accies took out the Unicorns 1-0). In the semi-finals the Unibrow defeated the Accies 1-0, while the Beavers-Cycles match finished in a scoreless draw. The teams went straight to a penalty shootout; the Beavers’ keeper saved twice to send his side through to the final.
The Beavers had most of the play from kick-off, and almost scored in the first minute. However, the Unibrow opened the scoring, with a strike that was almost a replica of Geoff Hurst’s goal in the 1966 World Cup final. It hit the underside of the bar, crossed the line then bounced back in to the field of play. The Beavers launched a series of attacks on the Unibrow goal, with two shots going close. However, the Unibrow hung on until the final whistle, taking the cup with a 1-0 victory.
It was a remarkable victory, with the Unibrow going undefeated all day. That bodes well for the new team’s prospects in the regular season. Other highlights included the Scarfies winning the consolation final, and one of the Unicorn players scoring a mere 11 seconds after kick-off in a win over the Wanderers.
Thank you to all the teams that attended, and for Si, Michael and Matt helping out; we hope to make the tournament even bigger next year, with more teams, referees and a better quality of mustard…
Roy Dickson was one of the club’s founding members in 1943. He was a war evacuee from Scotland, arriving here in 1940. He was club secretary and selected for NZ Universities after the first two winter tournaments. He was killed in a climbing accident on New Year’s Day 1947, during a VUW tramping club trip to the Southern Alps. He was 21. Roy is one of the many players we’ll be honouring during the year. Keep reading our newsletters and the Facebook page for more details on our 75th year events.
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