Leyton Orient hit their fundraising target before their big FIFA 20 tournament had even started last night.
The O's set the bar at £50,000 initially, but that has now been doubled to £100,000 after a huge £25,000 donation from betting company bet365 took them over the mark.
If the new target was to be reached, £75,000 of the money raised would go to struggling EFL clubs while they have no matchday income due to the Coronavirus pandemic, while the remaining £25,000 would be split between MIND and the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fundraiser by WHO.
Orient kicked off the tournament last night as goalkeeper Sam Sargeant took on professional e-Sports player Robert Fakhretdinov, representing Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow.
Despite almost springing a surprise in the second half, it ultimately ended in defeat for Sargeant as Fakhretdinov sent Lokomotiv into round two with a 6-3 win.
It didn't start well for Orient as Lokomotiv stormed into a 3-0 lead, but Sargeant managed to get the virtual James Dayton on the scoresheet to pull one back.
However, a further two goals from the professional player before the break had Orient looking down and out at 5-1.
A couple of substitutions and a formation change from Sargeant at the interval made all the difference, and he pushed Fakhretdinov all the way in the second period.
Lee Angol and Ruel Sotiriou pulled it back to 5-3 with enough time remaining for Sargeant to possibly go on and rescue the game, but Fakhretdinov struck in the dying seconds to make it six for Lokomotiv.
Other big results from the first stage of the tournament saw Mansfield Town beat Belgian side Gent 6-1, Angers win 10-0 at Irish club Waterford, and MK Dons get a controversial 2-0 win against an e-Sports player from the Netherland's Heracles Almelo.
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