Forget Manchester United and Chelsea - a Comet Stevenage Sunday League team were the recent big attractions behind the old Iron Curtain. Roebuck Gate were formed by a group of friends who entered a team into The Comet sponsored Stevenage league this seaso

Forget Manchester United and Chelsea - a Comet Stevenage Sunday League team were the recent big attractions behind the old Iron Curtain.

Roebuck Gate were formed by a group of friends who entered a team into The Comet sponsored Stevenage league this season.

Through a contact, they were sponsored by Landkom Ukraine, a local company based in Weston who farm oil seed rape in Ukraine to generate environmentally friendly fuels.

As part of the deal, they offered the team the opportunity to visit the town of Zolochiv in Western Ukraine where a lot of their land is based.

Landkom Ukraine also sponsor a semi-professional team there, Sokil Zolochiv, and a friendly fixture was agreed for Sunday, May 11.

The game was watched by more than 5,000 fans, including many local dignitaries, and a 10-minute feature was shown on regional television the following day to an expected audience of more than a million!

Although Zolochiv won 7-1, Roebuck Gate did grab a consolation goal through Mark Edwards, finishing a great throughball from Ben Storey.

Goalkeeper Richard Pomroy was rightly awarded the man of the match award for a string of great saves.

Following the final whistle, some of the crowd, most who had never met any 'westerners' before, flooded the pitch, insisting on autographs and having their pictures taken with the Roebuck players.

Landkom presented the team with £500 to award to a charity of its choice, and this was donated to an orphanage in the area near Zolochiv.