Three rounds of fixtures remain before the Blue Square Premier season reaches its conclusion, and with playoff places and relegation spots still to be confirmed the season is going right to the last in the battles for divisional places.

Aldershot Town are confirmed as champions of the division, their 1-1 draw at Exeter City on Tuesday night ensures that none of their rivals can catch them at the summit and leaves The Shots only two points shy of a century haul with three games still to go. Gary Waddock's side have lost no league games since the end of January when they fell to a double defeat by Forest Green and then York City.

Scott Donnelly scored his first league goal of the season to earn the point at St. James' Park which secured the title in front of just under 900 travelling fans.

Sixteen years and five promotions after the football club was re-born after financial troubles, the Hampshire side now deservedly take their place back among the 92 elite clubs in the Football League.

Torquay United have virtually assured themselves of a playoff spot, needing just a point from their final four matches to secure a top five position and only two points to be guaranteed second place and a home leg second in the playoffs.

One loss in eight has seen Paul Buckle's men pull away from their challengers, including three straight wins in the past eight days against Oxford, Stevenage and Northwich.

The final three places in the season-concluding playoffs are all still up for grabs, with four teams all competing for the right to join Torquay in the fight for the second promotion spot.

Burton Albion and Cambridge United sit a point ahead of Stevenage Borough and Exeter City with all four sides having played the same number of games. Key fixtures see Burton face Stevenage on Friday night, Cambridge United face Torquay on Tuesday next week, with Burton and Exeter facing off on the last day of the season.

Burton have lost three of their last five games before securing a 2-1 win against Halifax Town on Tuesday night. The U's have won just three of their last nine outings, Stevenage have lost four of their last six, while Exeter have won just four of their last ten.

With all four sides struggling for form, Torquay may feel confident that they can be the ones that are victorious in the playoffs, but if any of the other sides picks up a string of results in the next three games the picture could change dramatically.

The relegation battle is also extremely close, with five sides battling to stay clear of the final two relegation places. Droylsden and Stafford Rangers have had their relegations confirmed, both seventeen points adrift of safety, but it is ahead of this that the battle becomes interesting. Halifax and Northwich currently occupy the relegation berths with thirty-eight points, Farsley Celtic stand one point clear with Altrincham a further point ahead and Weymouth one more in front. All these sides have three games to play, except crucially for Altrincham who have only two matches to complete.

Weymouth face Altrincham on the last day of the season in a match that could prove decisive. Halifax have the unenviable task of having to face both Aldershot and Stevenage before the season's closure. Grays face both Northwich and Farsley so could be pivotal in the fortunes of others, as could Stevenage as they play Northwich as well as Halifax.

Weymouth's 2-1 win against Droylsden on Tuesday could be crucial, Anton Robinson's header stretching The Terra's unbeaten run to three matches and lifting them three places to three points above the drop. This was despite Cambridge United loanee Mark Convery being dismissed late on for a professional foul.

The result became more important when it became clear that Halifax, Farsley and Northwich had all been beaten, by Burton, Ebbsfleet and Torquay respectively.

The remaining eleven sides in the Blue Square Premier have no promotion prospects of relegation worries and so have nothing directly to play for. Ebbsfleet United are the only exception, sitting eleventh but have the prospect of a Wembley final against Torquay to look forward to on May 10^th in the FA Trophy.

Rushden and Diamonds have the prospect of playing five games in ten days to complete their season, with Grays Athletic facing four games in that time. The other sides with nothing to play for have only three games remaining except Histon, with only two.

There is still great scope for competition for places, Oxford United in thirteenth and Forest Green in eighth are only four points away from each other, with Histon only two points further adrift having played that extra game.

Woking are the only team to be completely isolated, five points below sixteenth and eight points above the relegation battle, Weymouth being their nearest challengers looking down.

Looking at other divisions, Wrexham's relegation from the Football League looks almost assured. They sit nine points adrift of safety with four games to play, and defeat to Notts County on Saturday could spell their relegation if Dagenham are able to secure a point.

Mansfield are four points from safety with three games to go in the fight to avoid the other drop spot, with Dagenham and Redbridge, Notts County and Chester all anxious to secure survival.

Kettering are secured Blue Square Premier football next season, promotion from the north division as champions was secured on April 5^th. Six teams are still in with achance of securing a playoff position.

Lewes are hot favourites to claim the southern division from Eastbourne Borough. Lewes lead by two points with four games to play, while Eastbourne have only two fixtures remaining. Three of Lewes' four matches are at home so The Rooks are set to be promoted to England's fifth division for the first time in their history. The race for the playoffs is much closer, with even Bromley down in eleventh place in with a chance of the playoffs with only two games left.

With so much of the campaign now gone it will be to the delight of any neutral fans that the race for achieving success and avoiding failure at both ends of the division is still alive with only a week and a half until the end of the season, and fans of the clubs involves will be kept interested all the way to the playoff final, Wembley, May 18^th.

Matt Ramsay