Melchester Rovers will have to channel the spirit of Roy Race when it takes on Roslyn-Wakari in their Chatham Cup tie at the Caledonian Ground at 2pm today.
Dunedin's Melchester Rovers, as well as many other Melchester Rovers round the world, is a club formed in honour of much-loved comic strip figure Roy Race.
Race played for Melchester Rovers and on paper won all that could be in football.
The Dunedin Melchester Rovers club was formed in 2002, and has grown to have 14 teams playing weekly in Footballsouth senior and junior divisions.
Melchester plays in the third division but there is no lack of spirit in the side, and especially in the early stages, Roslyn can look forward to a keen contest.
Roslyn coach James Vaughan may take the chance to rest some of his squad's injured players, such as centreback Dave Shaw, but Cup history is littered with teams that have taken lower grade opposition lightly and suffered the consequences.
Tightest cup-tie of the round should be at Memorial Park where Mosgiel will be looking for a repeat of its 3-2 League win over Queenstown.
Phil Kelly, Mike Abbott and Morgan Day scored then to keep Mosgiel third place in the league, but Queenstown striker Carlos Herrmann also got a couple so today's contest should be a good match.
Bottom of the premier league Green Island is an improving unit, but will need to again lift its game against Northern at Sunnyvale to stay in the Cup.
Grants Braes' recent success will be tested by Northern Hearts at Ocean Grove.
Timaru's combined side once reached the fifth round of the Cup, back in 1980 where it scored twice against Dunedin City but eventually lost 5-2.
Seacliff, from Otago, won the first Cup final in 1923, beating Wellington YMCA 4-0.
The Cup was won last year by Wellington Olympic, which beat Three Kings United 2-1.
The Chatham Cup is one of New Zealand sport's oldest and most coveted trophies, steeped in history and tradition.
The cup was given to the then NZ Football Association in 1922 by the crew of the British naval vessel HMS Chatham as a token of appreciation for the hospitality it had encountered on a visit to New Zealand.
In this 87th year, the knockout competition will become national at the last-16 stage, one round earlier than in recent years.
The Cup's format is modelled on England's FA Cup, run along regional lines in the early rounds.
But from the fourth round, eight teams from the northern region, and two each from the central and southern regions will enter an open draw.
