Dyce RFC held its annual dinner & awards night at the Crowne Plaza hotel, Dyce. Players old & new, partners, club sponsors, friends and family attended the dinner. Guest were welcomed with a red carpet & drinks reception upon arrival.

The formalities began around 7pm with guests were ask to take their seats for the nights festivities, with Team Manager Phil Horsfall welcoming everyone with a brief address before dinner.

The players & their guests were invited to get acquainted with our very special guest for the night- the Calcutta Cup! The Cup is the trophy presented to the winner of the England versus Scotland union match which takes place during the annual Six Nations Championship.

Whilst the Calcutta (Rugby) Football Club was disbanded in 1878, members decided to keep the memory of the club alive by having the remaining 270 silver rupees in their bank account melted down to be made into a trophy. The trophy was then presented to the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to be used as “the best means of doing some lasting good for the cause of Rugby Football.”

Once the formalities were over everyone sat down to their meal, drinks were flowing & players & guest were having good time. Once the meal was done it was down to the serious stuff, the award ceremony, and who was going to win what!!

This year’s trophy Winners were:

Most Improved player- Ewan Kellock.
This award goes to a player who has seamlessly shifted forwards in the scrum from 2nd row to prop without any fuss- just don't ask him to train in the wet.

D!£k of the Season award- Jack Gray.
Kerian Esson picked up this award on behalf of Jack, who was a very close contender himself.

Clubman of the year award- Guy Gibson.
Who’s understated contribution has been keenly felt since he departed for Israel in the new year.

The Paul Holder Newcomer of the year award- Declan Coutts.The Paul Holder Newcomer of the year award- Declan Coutts.
Alessandro Rossetti picked up this award on behalf of Declan, who was a very close contender himself.
This is a new award this season in memory of Paul Holder who departed too soon in March 2019.
Dec has forged a strong partnership in the centres with Gregg Jack and has grown stronger with each passing match
.

“Flush it away” moment award- Callum Robertson.
An award for the most stupid, memorable or funny moment of the season, Callum won for his “try” over the dead ball line in the match against Inverness Craig Dunain RFC.
David Hay picked up this award on behalf of Callum for his runner up effort.

Top Try Scorers award- Graeme Lowe & Duncan Scott.
4 tries apiece in a season which saw the team score 30 between 15 different individuals.

President’s Player- Graeme Lowe.
Leading from the front, Graeme has demonstrated a strong work ethic and a match winning mentality all season
.

Players Player award- Gregg Jack.
A well-deserved accolade after several MoTM awards, tries and solid performances all season.

Congratulations to everyone who won an award tonight, it was a very close contest for all players who played for us this season. Players who picked up club awards on the night & who couldn’t attend due to other commitments will be presented to them at the club’s Old Boy’s match to be held on Saturday 31st August.
Thanks to the Hazel hay & Wendy Rutherford for organising & running the raffle on the night & for sourcing all the wonderful prizes. A great £485 was raised for the club from raffles sales…

Our very special guest made a front and centre appearance on the night in the form of the Calcutta Cup, which was retained by Scotland team who made a remarkable come back on the 16th March 2019 at Twickenham 38-38. Even before the England vs Scotland match was played the Club approached the SRU to secure an appearance of the cup and were told “I guess it depends on whether the Scotland team can regain the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham on 16 March! If they do, then you’ll be the first request we will receive for the 2019-20 tour.
If, England were to win then I’m afraid that would be a no”

I’m glad Scotland pulled off that amazing comeback that afternoon, I think every Scotsman that day thought we had lost it. But to come back out into the second & pull of a draw nobody would have thought that would the final score.

For anyone missed it here’s a reminder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRx3KrQ83mc

I would like to thank Phil Horsfall for organising to get the appearance of the trophy & Graham Law from the SRU for letting the club have the trophy on display at our annual dinner & awards night.

Thanks to everyone who turned up on the night & made it a great occasion, here’s to next season.

Photos of the night can be found on the link.
https://www.dycerfc.com/photos/dyce-rfc-annual-dinner-awards-night-899471.html

#MON THE DYCE