2pm 5 June 2021
London FA Junior Cup, Quarter-Final
FC Petrocub SG London 5 Wimbledon Casuals 4 (att 22)
FC Petrocub may not be a major name in world football, but type it into Google and you'll find it's a club in the Moldovan league. However, that's not the only FC Petrocub, there's a London version too.
Not surprisingly it was formed by Moldovans living in the capital. The SG part of the name represents Sarata-Galbena, the area of Moldova where there the other Petrocub is based.
The London version play at Noak Hill Sports Complex on the outskirts of Romford. It's a 3G pitch with a spectator area running most of the length of one side.
This cup tie, probably the best match I've seen all season, pitted Essex Alliance hosts against visitors from the Surrey South Eastern Combination's second tier.
From next season the Essex Alliance will be a regional feeder league, putting it's premier division at the seventh level of the non-League pyramid and onto my groundhopping radar.
As I'm in the south east for the weekend, and was looking for a game with enough at stake to make a walkover unlikely - happening too often in some leagues still playing - I thought I'd make my first visit to an Essex Alliance club.
If other games I see at venues in the league are half as good as this I'll be in for a lot of treats. On a very warm afternoon both clubs passed the ball neatly and scored regularly.
By half time the scoring had gone 0-1, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 3-3, 4-3. Two minutes into the second half and a penalty made it 4-4. At that point the sequence was broken, and the only remaining goal was scored by the Moldovans to earn a thrilling win and a semi-final against fellow Essex Alliance side Jolof Sports.
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