ANY THREE FROM FIVE TEAMS FOR THE REAMINING PLAY-OFF SPOTS IN THE ISTHMIAN PREMIER DIVISION

ISTHMIAN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION 

CURRENT TABLE 

POSITIONS 2-14 ONLY 

PP - POSSIBLE POINTS TOTAL

HP - HIGHEST POSITION POSSIBLE 

POS	TEAM	P	GD	PTS	PP	HP
2.	CHATHAM TOWN	40	+28	78	84	2nd
3.	ENFIELD TOWN	39	+25	73	82	2nd
4	WINGATE & FINCHLEY	40	+14	73	79	2nd
5.	HORSHAM	38	+12	70	82	2nd
6.	BILLERICAY TOWN	40	+23	67	73	3rd
7.	HASTINGS UTD	39	+18	63	72	5th

Chatham Town have secured their play-off spot in The Pitching In Isthmian Premier Division with Enfield Town, Wingate & Finchley, Horsham, Billericay Town and Hastings United now fight it our for the final three spots available. 

The Towners need a point in their final three games to secure their spot as do Wingate and Finchley in their final two games - this is, of course, depending on the results of the other teams. 

Should Horsham win at Lewes on Tuesday evening it'll end Hastings United chances. Billericay Town need to win their final two games and rely on the other teams involved dropping points. 

THE PITCHING IN ISTHMIAN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION PLAY-OFF RACE

ISTHMIAN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION 

CURRENT TABLE 

POSITIONS 2-14 ONLY 

PP - POSSIBLE POINTS TOTAL

HP - HIGHEST POSITION POSSIBLE 

POS	TEAM	P	GD	PTS	PP	HP
2.	CHATHAM TOWN	39	+26	75	84	2nd
3.	ENFIELD TOWN	38	+23	70	82	2nd
4	WINGATE & FINCHLEY	38	+13	69	81	2nd
5.	BILLERICAY TOWN	39	+22	64	73	3rd
6.	HORSHAM	36	+9	64	82	2nd
7.	HASTINGS UTD	37	+19	62	77	2nd
8.	CARSHALTON ATHLETIC	39	+18	61	70	3rd
9.	HASHTAG UTD	39	+9	58	67	5th
10.	DULWICH HAMLET	39	+7	58	67	5th
11.	BOGNOR REGIS TOWN	38	+3	52	64	5th
12.	LEWES	37	-11	52	67	5th
13.	WHITEHAWK	36	-1	49	67	5th
14.	POTTERS BAR TOWN	34	+3	48	72	3rd

Congratulations to Hornchurch who clinched the league title at the weekend with a 2-1 home win over Chatham Town in front of 1,318 people at Bridge Avenue. The race for the play-offs goes right down to Potters Bar Town in 14th place. 

Bognor Regis Town are in the 'mathematically possible' section as they can only equal 5th placed Billericay Town's 64 points total but have a goal difference of +3 compared to The Blue's total of +22. 

Whitehawk, Lewes, Dulwich Hamlet and Hashtag United can also only get to fifth place but have to rely on other teams results so probably won't make the final top five of the season. 

The interesting team is Potters Bar Town who have a very busy few weeks ahead of them. They play 'home games' against Horsham and Margate on Tuesday and Thursday which are being played at Haringey Borough's Coles Park Stadium. They then travel to Enfield Town for a local derby on Saturday before playing home games against Haringey Borough (Tues), Hornchurch (Sat) and Hastings United (Tues) before ending the season at Whitehawk on Saturday 27th April.  If they do finish in the top five they will most certainly deserve it!! 

The Scholar's two games this week look very exciting with The Scholars and Horsham needed three points for their play-off chances and Margate needed three points to give themselves an outside chance of staying up. 

MIDWEEK FIXTURES

TUESDAY 9th APRIL 

CANVEY ISLAND v LEWES 

HORNCHURCH v CRAY WANDERERS 

POTTERS BAR TOWN v HORSHAM (@ Coles Park)

WHITEHAWK v CONCORD RANGERS 

WINGATE & FINCHLEY v HASTINGS UNITED 

THURSDAY 11th APRIL 

POTTERS BAR TOWN v MARGATE (@ Coles Park)

BELARUSIAN FOOTBALL WEEKEND REVIEW - NAFTAN GAIN A CREDITABLE POINT AT THE CHAMPIONS

Gomel scoring three and Dynamo Brest scoring four away from home at BATE Borisov and Shakhtyor Soligorsk this weekend is a clear indication that the fifteen time title winners and 2020 & 2021 league champions are certainly no longer the dominant force in in Belrarusian football there were. For those not in the know Shakhtyor also finished top in 2022 but were stripped of the title due to the match fixing scandal. 

MATCH ACTION FROM SHAKHTYOR'S GAME WITH DYNAMO BREST 

(photos - @fcshakhterby)

Gomel took an early lead via 18 year old Kazakhstani striker Abinur Nurymbet who netted his first goal for the club following his recent move from Energetik-BGU. He headed home from a corner in the third minute. Timur Pukhov scored two more for the visitors who is another new player in the Gomel squad for this season after his move from Naftan Novopolotsk. His first was a very well struck free kick in the 27th minute. Andrey Panyukov, another former Naftan player, scored from the spot for BATE from the penalty spot to get tham back in the game but Pukhov finished the scoring with a brilliant strike from the edge of the box to help his side to a very memorable victory. 

Dynamo Brest were 0-3 up after just twenty minutes with German Barkovskiy's skilful back heel goal the pick of the bunch. Kenyan striker Josephat Lopago finished the scoring when a defensive mix up saw him able to finish easily from just inside the box. 

It was a fantastic weekend for DNEPR Mogilev who got their first away win at the top level of Belarusian football since 1st April 2018 they won 1-2 at Gorodeya. Anton Lukashov, who was only 13 years old in April 2018, got the only goal of the game in their 0-1 win at Slutsk. 

Smorgon weren't expected to win at FC Minsk after losing their first two games by an aggregate score of 1-9 but they caused a real upset winning 2-3 with former Belshina Bobruisk Kirill Leonovich scoring two goals.  

Slavia Mozyr and Neman Grodno are the only teams left with 100% winning records. Pavel Chikida continued his excellent early season form scoring a penalty and Kirill Kirilenko netting a goal in the second half in a 2-1 win over Islcoh whose goal was a late one in the 91st minute from Aleksandr Makas. 

The game of the day was last season's runner's up with last season's 3rd place as Neman Grodno hosted Torpedo Belaz Zhodino. It was Pavel Savitskiy's famous left foot which won the game when he scored a 14th minute penalty in front of 5,800 people.  The award of the penalty (take a look at the highlights!) was a little controversial as you'll see! 

Naftan Novopolotsk who played very well in their first two games against Neman Grodno and BATE Borisov showed they have a very impressive team for this season as they raced into a 0-2 lead at Champion's Dynamo Minsk with 20 year old Ignat Pranovich who had two other very good chances to score. 

Raymond Adeola scored his third goal of the season and a very important one when he made it 1-2 just before half time via a close range header. Pavel Meleshin made it 2-2 on 65 minutes. It wasn't a case of the visitor's hanging on for a point as Albert Rybak's team had chances to win with Fedor Lapoukhov in the home goal making some good saves. 

STATS FOR THE SEASON SO FAR 

100% WINNING RECORD - NEMAN GRODNO & SLAVIA MOZYR 

UNBEATEN - NEMAN GRODNO, SLAVIA MOZYR, DYNAMO BREST & DYNAMO MINSK 

WITHOUT A WIN - NAFTAN, ISLOCH, ARSENAL, VITEBSK, FC MINSK & SLUTSK. 

TOP SCORERS (9) - DYNAMO BREST 

WORST DEFENCE (11) - SMORGON 

LOWEST SCORERS (1) - SHAKHTYOR, SLUTSK, ARSENAL, DNEPR MOGILEV 

BEST DEFENCE (1) - TORPEDO ZHODINO 

MATCH ACTION FROM OSTOVETS v ENERGETIK-BGU 

(photos - @fc_ostrovets)

It was the start of the First League this weekend with the big winners being ML Vitebsk who won 0-3 at Lokomotiv Gomel. The two demoted sides in Belshina and Energetik-BGU had mixed fortunes. The Students lost 1-0 at Ostrovets whose goal was scored by former FC Minsk, ML Vitebsk and Lida midfielder Kirill Parmonov on his debut. 

Belshina won 0-2 at Slonim through goals from debutant's Vadim Balbukh and Yuri Gavrilov. 

The Belarusian U17 side who have been placed in the second tier for this season left it late to win their first game when Stanislav Kazmerchuk (in the 84th minute) and Nikita Lyukevich at 90+3 minutes scored to win 2-1 over Bumprom Gomel. Lyukevich's chased down the away keeper and blocked his clearance to run clear and pass the ball into the net to win the three points. 

MATCH ACTION FROM SLONIM v BELSHINA BOBRUISK 

(PHOTOS - @FCSLONIM)

RESULTS 

PREMIER LEAGUE 

Friday 5th April

Arsenal Dzerzhinsk 1-1 Vitebsk (178)

FC Minsk 2-3 Smorgon (317) 

Saturday 6th April

Slutsk 0-1 DNEPR Mogilev (1,100) 

BATE Borisov 1-3 Gomel (2,225) 

Shakhtyor Soligorsk 0-4 Dynamo Brest (1,020)  

Sunday 7th April

Slavia Mozyr 2-1 Isloch (4.350) 

Neman Grodno 1-0 Torpedo BelAZ (5,800) 

Dynamo Minsk 2-2 Naftan (2,530) 

FIRST LEAGUE 

Friday 5th April 

Ostrovets 1-0 Energetik-BGU (150) 

Saturday 6th April

Torpedo BelAZ II 1-1 Orsha (180) 

ABFF U17 2-1 Bumprom (130) 

Slonim 0-2 Belshina (340) 

Dynamo Minsk II 1-2 Niva Dolbizno (80)

Sunday 7th April

Lokomotiv Gomel 0-3 ML Vitebsk (280) 

Lida 1-0 Volna (975)

Shakhtyor Soligorsk II 0-2 Molodechno (125)

BATE II 2-1 Baranovichi (300) 

FIXTURES 

PREMIER LEAGUE 

Friday 12th April 

Vitebsk v Slutsk 

Saturday 13th April 

DNEPR Mogilev v Neman Grodno 

Gomel v Dynamo Minsk 

Isloch v Arsenal 

Torpedo BelAZ v BATE 

Sunday 14th April 

Naftan v Smorgon 

Shakhtyor Soligorsk v Slavia 

Dynamo Brest v FC Minsk

FIRST LEAGUE 

Friday 12th April

Belshina v ABFF U17 

Saturday 13th April 

Ostrovets v Shakhtyor Soligorsk II 

Volna v Orsha 1

Energetik-BGU v Bumprom 

Niva Dolbizno v Lida 

Sunday 14th April

ML Vitebsk v Dynamo Minsk II 

Baranovichi v Lokomotiv Gomel 

Molodechno v BATE II 

Torpedo BelAZ II v Slonim

Also in the news this week is the constitution for the 2024 Second League which has been reduced to just three divisions shown below.   

NORTH DIVISION (11 teams) 

BGU Minsk 

Gazovik Vitebsk 

Gorki 

Krumkachy Minsk 

FC Minsk II 

Miory 

Naftan II 

Polotsk 

Smorgon II  

Uni Minsk 

Vitebsk II 

EAST DIVISION (11 teams)

Avtozavodets Traktor

DNEPR Mogilev II 

FSK Energetik 

Gomel II 

Isloch II 

MNPZ 

Osipovichi 

Partizan Soligorsk 

Servolyuks 

Slavia II 

Slutsk II

WEST DIVISION (12 teams) 

Agro-Pelishche 

Arsenal II 

Atlant Kobrin 

Bobovnya 

Dynamo Brest II 

Ivatsevichi 

Krechet 

Kronon 

Nadezhda Baranovichskogo

Neman Grodno II 

Shchuchin 

Stenles Pinsk 

#DROPWATCH IN THE VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE - BOREHAM WOOD v WEALDSTONE IS HUGE GAME THIS WEEKEND

POS	TEAM	P	W	D	L	GF-GA	GD	PTS	FORM	PP
10.	SOUTHEND UNITED	43	19	12	12	65-42	+23	59	WDDWDW	68
11.	ROCHDALE	42	15	11	16	65-61	+4	56	DWWWLD	68
12.	DAG & RED	43	14	12	17	63-56	+7	54	DLWDWD	63
13.	HARTLEPOOL UTD	42	15	8	19	62-75	-13	53	LDDLWD	65
14.	AFC FYLDE	42	14	10	18	71-75	-4	52	WLDLWW	61
15.	MAIDENHEAD UNITED	42	13	12	17	51-60	-9	51	LWLLWW	60
16.	EASTLEIGH	42	13	11	18	70-84	-14	50	DLLDWL	59
17.	YORK CITY	43	11	17	15	53-67	-14	50	DLWWWD	59
18.	WOKING	43	13	10	20	43-51	-8	49	WWLWDD	58
19.	EBBSLFEET UTD	41	13	10	18	57-68	-11	49	WWLWDD	61
20.	WEALDSTONE	40	12	11	17	51-61	-10	47	WLDLLL	65
21.	KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS	43	11	13	19	39-52	-13	46	DDDDLW	55
22.	BOREHAM WOOD	42	10	14	18	52-73	-21	44	LLLLLL	59
23.	DORKING WANDERERS	42	12	7	23	48-76	-28	43	LLDLLD	58
R.	OXFORD CITY	43	8	8	27	53-90	-37	32	DLLLWL	41

It looks as though the fight to avoid relegation from non-league's top table will go down to the final day of the season. Oxford City are already relegated but then it's down to any three teams from Maidenhead United downwards as surely AFC Fylde points total of 52 is enough to keep them in the division. 

Here we take a look at the teams involved and assess their chances of beating the drop.

DORKING WANDERERS 

The Wanderers host Altrincham this Saturday before a HUGE midweek game at Wealdstone next Thursday and they then end their season with a tough away trip to Rochdale followed by a home game against Hartlepool United.

They are currently four points from safety with a -28 goal difference which is the worst in the division aside from Oxford City. It's looking a tough challenge for The Wanderers to stay up and they will need to win at least two of their remaining three games to give themselves a fighting chance- even that could not be good enough to see them stay up. They have only one victory in their last ten games and have conceded sixteen goals in their last six. 

BOREHAM WOOD 

The news has been announced today that Manager Luke Garrard will be leaving at the end of the season. He took over as boss in October 2015 following the departure of Ian Allinson who had taken the Hertfordshire side to The National League for the first time in their history with a National South play-off victory over Whitehawk at the end of the 14/15 season. 

Garrard has taken The Wood to the National League play-offs three times going to close to promotion the football league in the 17/18 season losing the final to Tranmere Rovers at Wembley Stadium. Then there was the famous FA Cup run of 21/22 where victories over Barnet, Eastleigh, St Albans City, AFC Wimbledon, AFC Bournemouth got them to the Fifth Round where they played Everton at Goodison Park. 

It's been a disastrous 23/24 campaign for the club with seventy-three goals conceded and just ten wins from their forty-two games played. Like The Wanderers they have a poor goal difference of -21 and are currently three points from safety - this could be key I think as many fans see Goal Difference counted as a point so 'technically' Boreham Wood are 'four' points and Dorking Wanderers are 'five' with just twelve points to play for?  

Six defeats in a row and just one win in their last ten games has seen The Wood drop into the relegation zone. 

This Saturday is a MASSIVE Hertfordshire/Middlesex derby at Wealdstone visit Meadow Park which a a real relegation six pointer! Just eleven miles sperate the two grounds and it's only seven miles from Borehamwood to Wealdstone so they will be plenty of visiting fans for this one. 

They then travel to Rochdale and Aldershot Town before ending the season at home to Ebbsfleet United. 

KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS 

Harriers looked relegation certainties until the arrival of former Hull City boss Phil Brown in early January who replaced outgoing boss Russell Penn who is now in charge of Southern Premier League Central side Halesowen Town. Promoted via the National North play-offs in 2023 they got only four wins from twenty-eight games which has improved to a very impressive seven from fifteen games under Brown. 

	P	W	D	L	GF-GA	GD	PTS	PPG
PENN	28	4	8	16	20-37	-17	20	0.71
BROWN	15	7	5	3	19-15	+4	26	1.74

Their amazing 1-3 win over champion's Chesterfield on Monday was their first win in seven games (four have been draws) and they will carry lots of confidence from this into their forthcoming home games against FC Halifax Town (who also need a win in their race for the play-offs) and Eastleigh. They end their season at Barnet who may have one eye on their play-off campaign as they are likely to finish as runner's up in the division. 

WEALDSTONE 

The Stones lost their much loved Manager Stuart Maynard in January as he moved into the football league with League Two side Notts County. He had been in charge of the club since February 2021 after Dean Brennan left - He was assistant to the now Barnet boss since May 2019. 

Under Maynard the Middlesex side established themselves amongst the full time National League clubs with bigger resources improving their finishing position each year from 19th to 16th to 13th. 

David Noble was quickly appointed joining from National South side St Albans City and won his first game in charge 2-0 against FC Halifax Town - since then they have just two wins in fourteen games. Their last two games have been 0-1 defeats at already relegated Oxford City and at home to play-off hopeful's Solihull Moors who scored the winning goal in the 96th minute! 

	P	W	D	L	GF-GA	GD	PTS	PPG
MAYNARD	25	9	6	10	34-26	+8	33	1.32
NOBLE	15	3	5	7	17-25	-8	14	0.93

As mentioned they have a huge game at Boreham Wood this weekend followed by four home games in week against Southend United (Tues), Dorking Wanderers (Thurs), Chesterfield (Sat) and Eastleigh (Tues) and then end their season with a tricky trip to Oldham Athletic who could still have a chance of a play-off place on the day. 

EBBSFLEET UNITED 

The Fleet parted company with manager Dennis Kutrieb in January who has been replaced by Danny Searle. Under the former Aldershot Town and Braintree Town boss results have improved from a 25.81% win rate to a 50% win rate but they are not safe yet! 

	P	W	D	L	GF-GA	GD	PTS	PPG
KUTRIEB	31	8	6	17	38-56	-18	30	0.97
SEARLE	10	5	4	1	19-12	+7	19	1.90

The Kent side host AFC Fylde this weekend before a midweek trip to Solihull Moors next Tuesday. The play Altrincham in their final home game followed by trips to FC Halifax Town and Boreham Wood.

WOKING 

It's been a difficult season for The Cards who finished in fourth place last season which was their highest position since they finished in third place in the 97/98 campaign. Darren Sarll left his job as Manager in November and has been replaced by Michael Doyle in first full time job as Manager - before he was player/assistant coach at Forest Green Rovers and Professional Development Phase coach in the Portsmouth FC academy. 

Four wins and three draws in their last ten games has lifted them to 49 points but they are still in danger of the drop.

They have home games against Dagenham & Redbridge and AFC Fylde as well as a trip to York City in their final games. 

YORK CITY 

The Minstermen are another side to have a positive new manager bounce under Adam Hinshelwood who recently joined from National South side Worthing. The first four games under new management were three defeats including a 1-6 defeat at Altrincham but since they have won against Aldershot Tow, Bromley and Chesterfield along with an important point won on the road at FC Halifax Town last night. They have two home games against Eastleigh and Woking followed by a final day away trip to Solihull Moors. 

	P	W	D	L	GF-GA	GD	PTS	PPG
KUTRIEB	35	9	15	12	43-53	-10	39	1.11
HINSHELWOOD	8	3	2	3	10-14	-4	11	1.38

I'm sure they'll be a few twists and turns and lots of drama in the forthcoming weeks - It could go down to the final day with only Oxford City down and three relegation places to be decided. 

WEEKEND FIXTURES FOR CURRENT BOTTOM EIGHT

BOREHAM WOOD (22nd) v WEALDSTONE (20th)

DORKING WANDERERS (23rd) v ALTRICNCHAM (4th)

EBBSFLEET UNITED (19th) v AFC FYLDE (14th) 

KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS (21st) v FC HALIFAX TOWN (8th) 

WOKING (18th) v DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE (12th)

YORK CITY (17th) v EASTLEIGH (16th)

OXFORD CITY (24th) - NO GAME 

BELARUSIAN PREMIER LEAGUE - WEEK TWO ROUND UP

It was a return to league action in the Belarusian Premier League after the International break where Belarus played two friendly games. They lost 2-0 to Montenegro which was played in Turkey and then drew 0-0 with Malta. The games saw 19 year old striker Maxim Kireev make his debut - He was sub versus Montenegro and started the Malta game. He was born in Belgium and came through the Anderlecht youth system but currently plays for Lierse Kempenzonen in the Belgium second tier.  

The u21's won their first game, at the ninth attempt, in the Euro 2025 qualification Group G causing a surprise beating Greece u21 1-0 with the only goal scored in the second half by Timofey Martynov who made the move from FC Minsk to Russian Premier League side Orenburg recently. 

Currently FIFA ranked 95th the National team's next fixtures come in September in the UEFA Nation's League Group C against Bulgaria (72) and Luxembourg (92). They are still banned by UEFA from playing in Belarus due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine with 'home games' played at a neutral ground in different country behind closed doors. 

NO GOALS AT THE STADION SPARTAK

First League Champion's Arsenal Dzerzhinsk and runner's up DNEPR Mogilev met on Friday with the game ending 0-0. The best chance of the game fell to DNEPR who when a Martin Artyukh low cross was met by Ibrahim Kargbo in front of goal but the former Reading and Crystal Palace academy striker put his effort wide when it looked easier to score. Both teams will be happy with the clean sheets after they lost their opening games 1-0 and 2-0. 

NINE GOALS CONCEDED - SMORGON STRUGGLING ALREADY 

Smorgon already look like they will struggle this season as after losing 5-0 at Dynamo Minsk on the opening weekend they lost 4-1 at Dynamo Brest who Mikhail Gordeychuk scored twice for. The Bears won 7 of their 28 league games last season but 5 of those came in the first 13 games with a run of just 2 wins in their final 15 games which included a 2-4 victory at relegated Energetik-BGU. They conceded 2.11 goals per game last season with an average of 4.5 in their 2 games already! Had it not been for some of the saves goalkeeper Pavel Okhremchuk made in this game it could of been a bigger defeat - 30 year old Okhremchuk replaced 20 year old Ivan Novichkov who had played in the Dynamo Minsk. Igors Sļesarčuk's team next take on FC Minsk on Friday 5th April.

NAFTAN DRAW AGAINST BATE BORISOV 

It was good day for Naftan on Saturday as they had been thrashed 0-7 at home to BATE Borisov in their last home game of the 2023 season but achieved a highly creditable 0-0 draw this weekend. 

It was a much changed BATE side with five of the six scorers from the 0-7 game no longer with the club - Dmitri Podstrelov (Dynamo Minsk), Denis Laptev (Torpedo Zhodino), Atrem Kontsevoy (Urai) and Dmitri Antlevskiy (Hapoel Haifa) have all departed with only Kirill Chernock remaining who was a substitute for this game. 

It certainly wasn't a backs to the wall defensive performance from the home as they had some good chances to score which were saved by BATE's former Gomel goalkeeper Vladislav Ignatyev. 

Naftan can certainly take much confidence into their tricky away trip to reigning champion's Dynamo Minsk next weekend. 

ANOTHER NIL-NIL AT ISLOCH v SHAKHTYOR

Shakhytor added another point to their total with a 0-0 draw at Isloch. They started the season on -20 due to the 2022 match fixing scandal and after two games are now on -16. 

Isloch dominated the game with Shakhtoyr's Sergey Chernik much the busier goalkeeper.  The home side had 10 shots on target to visitor's 3 along with 9 off target to the visitor's 2. 

SLAVIA MOZYR COME BACK AGAINST VITEBSK 

On a weekend of many goalless draws you would of thought Vitesbsk, who were famous for 0-0 draws back when Belarusian Football was popular around the world, would of been in a game with not much goal action. It was far from that at the Central Sport Complex as the home side raced into a 2-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes with an own goal and 20 year old Karen Vardanyan netting only the second Premier League goal of his career so far - He scored 16 in the first league last season. His lob over the keeper from the edge of the box was a very impressive finish. 

Two goals from Pavel Chikida and the winner from former Naftan Novopolotsk midfielder Kirill Krilenko saw Slavia record a very memorable 2-3 victory. 

SAVITSKIY, GWETH & KRAVTSOV ALL ON TARGET IN NEMAN VICTORY AT GOMEL 

Cameroonian striker Leonard Gweth scored his first goal for Neman in his second game along with Pavel Savitskiy (penalty) and Maksim Kravtsov netting in their 2-3 victory at Gomel. Gabon striker Rody Effaghe kept up the International feel scoring for Gomel in the second half. 

Gweth's goal was argubaly the best of the weekend shrugging off a couple of challenges on the edge of the box and slotting the ball home into the corner of the net. 

SKAVYSH PROVES HIS CLASS ONCE AGAIN 

Maxsim Skavysh scored the only goal of the game for Tropedo against Slutsk. It was his second goal of the season - Could he be set for beating his 19 goal (in 29 games) total for BATE in 2020? 

A GOOD POINT FOR FC IN THE MINSK DERBY 

It was the fourth nil-nil of the weekend in The Minsk derby. FC's 21 year old Evgeni Malashevich had a very impressive game in midfield. Roman Begunov thought he'd won the game in the final moments when he tapped the ball into the net but was adjudged to have fouled FC goalkeeper Maksim Azarko when challenging for a header from a corner in the build up - Definitely the right decision made by the referee. 

FACT

THERE WERE FOUR NIL-NILS THIS WEEKEND BUT ONLY ONE LESS GOAL SCORED (16) COMPARED TO WEEK ONE'S TOTAL OF 17 BUT THERE WERE NO NIL-NILS IN WEEK ONE.

RESULTS

FRIDAY 29th MARCH 

DNEPR Mogilev 0-0 Arsenal Dzerzhinsk (2,450) 

Dynamo Brest 4-1 Smorgon (7,588) 

SATURDAY 30th MARCH

Naftan 0-0 BATE (500) 

Vitebsk 2-3 Slavia Mozyr (1,050)  

Isloch 0-0 Shakhtyor Soligorsk (550) 

SUNDAY 31st MARCH

Gomel 2-3 Neman Grodno (1.200) 

Torpedo BelAZ 1-0 Slutsk (2,324) 

FC Minsk 0-0 Dinamo Minsk (1,450) 

In the fixture list you'll see it's the first weekend of the second tier with Energetik-BGU, who were relegated last season, opening the weekend with a trip to Ostrovets. Belshina Bobruisk, the other relegated team, travel to Slonim on Saturday. 

The big game of the Premier League weekend is the clash of two teams expected to be challenging for the title and who finished 2nd and 3rd last season as Neman Grodno  entertain Torpedo-Belaz Zhodino.   

FIXTURES

PREMIER LEAGUE

FRIDAY 5th APRIL 

Arsenal Dzerzhinsk v Vitebsk 

FC Minsk v Smorgon 

SATURDAY 6th APRIL 

Slutsk v DNEPR Mogilev 

BATE v Gomel

Shakhtyor Soligorsk v Dynamo Brest

SUNDAY 7th APRIL 

Slavia Mozyr v Isloch 

Neman Grodno v Torpedo BelAZ 

Dynamo Minsk v Naftan

FIRST LEAGUE

FRIDAY 5th APRIL

Ostrovets v Energetik-BGU 

SATURDAY 6th APRIL

Orsha v Torpedo BelAZ II 

ABFF U17 v Bumprom Gomel 

Slonim v Belshina Bobruisk 

Dynamo Minsk II v Niva Dolbizno 

SUNDAY 7th APRIL

Lokomotiv Gomel v ML Vitebsk 

Lida v Volna Pinsk 

Shakhtyor Soligorsk II v Molodechno 

BATE II v Baranovichi

(Pictures are from Naftan Novopolotsk v BATE Borisov courtesy of @fcnaftan on Instagram)

RACE FOR THE PLAY-OFFS AND TITLE IN THE PITCHING IN ISTHMIAN NORTH DIVISION

THE PITCHING IN ISTHMIAN NORTH DIVISION 

CURRENT TABLE - TOP TEN ONLY 

POS	TEAM	P	W	D	L	GF-GA	GD	PTS	FORM	PP
1.	LOWESTOFT TOWN	33	23	3	7	85-37	+48	72	LWLWWD	81
2.	FELIXSTOWE & WALTON UTD	33	20	8	5	71-38	+33	68	WDWLDD	77
3.	BURY TOWN	32	19	7	6	79-45	+34	64	WWLWDD	76
4.	BOWERS & PITSEA	31	20	4	7	62-41	+21	64	WWWWWW	79
5.	BRENTWOOD TOWN	30	18	6	6	61-26	+35	60	WWLWWD	78
6.	HEYBRIDGE SWIFTS	31	16	7	8	48-36	+12	55	WDWWDW	70
7.	WALTHAMSTOW	32	15	7	10	50-46	+4	52	LWDLLW	64
8.	BRIGHTLINGSEA REGENT	32	16	2	14	55-48	+7	50	WWWWWW	62
9.	BASILDON UNITED	30	15	3	12	57-50	+7	48	LWWLLL	66
10.	MALDON & TIPTREE	32	14	3	15	58-55	+3	45	LLWLLL	60

In the race for the title and the play-offs in The Pitching In Isthmian Premier Division it's Lowestoft Town who currently top the table with a four point gap down to Felixstowe and Walton United. 

Walthamstow, Brightlingsea Regent, Basildon United can still finish in the top five but would probably have to win all of their remaining games and rely on the current teams in the play-off places losing all of their games. 

Maldon & Tiptree could mathematically finish 5th but would have to win all of their games, rely on a highly unlikely run of defeats for teams above them and also make up a +32 goal difference to Brentwood Town - I think it's safe to say they'll be playing at Step Four next season. 

REMAINING FIXTURES FOR CURRENT TOP NINE

Friday 5th April 

Brentwood Town v Grays Athletic   

Saturday 6th April 

Bowers & Pitsea v Enfield 

Bury Town v Maldon & Tiptree 

Ipswich Wanderers v Brightlingsea Regent 

Redbridge v Heybridge Swifts 

Stowmarket Town v Walthamstow 

Witham Town v Lowestoft Town

Tuesday 9th April 

Brentwood Town v Bowers & Pitsea   

Walthamstow v Heybridge Swifts 

Saturday 13th April 

Basildon Untied v Bowers & Pitsea 

Brightlingsea Regent v Heybridge Swifts 

Felixstowe & Walton Utd v Witham Town 

Walthamstow v Bury Town 

Wroxham v Brentwood Town  

Saturday 20th April 

Brentwood Town v Brightlingsea Regent  

Bury Town v Enfield 

Gorleston v Felixstowe & Walton Utd 

New Salamis v Lowestoft Town 

Walthamstow v Bowers & Pitsea 

Wroxham v Heybridge Swifts 

Saturday 27th April 

Basildon United v Heybridge Swifts 

Brentwood Town v Lowestoft Town 

Brightlingsea Regent v Gorleston 

Felixstowe & Walton Utd v New Salamis 

Wroxham v Bowers & Pitsea 

TBA

Basildon United v Brentwood Town