The half way stage has been reached in the Playoff Semi-Finals of the three Blue Square divisions, and the sides involved find themselves just ninety minutes away from a promotion decider.

Torquay United and Cambridge United will be tipped as favourites to reach Wembley on May 18^th after each earning results away from home in their Blue Square Premier fixtures.

The Gulls stole a 2-1 win in their southern derby fixture at Exeter City, and Paul Buckle's side will know that avoiding defeat on Monday will see them reach their second Wembley final of the year.

Chris Zebroski netted an injury time winner to complete the scoring after charging down the clearance of goalkeeper Paul Jones. This came as his only sides' third shot on goal in the entire match, compared to ten for the hosts. Teammate Tim Sills had opened the scoring prior to Wayne Carlisle equalising in the final fifteen minutes.

Lee McEvilly was Cambridge United's hero on Friday night, his penalty and freekick in the last twelve minutes rescuing a draw for The U's in their encounter at Burton Albion.

Daryl Clare and Darren Stride had put The Brewers in the driving seat before United struck back, in a match where all four goals came in the final quarter.

The two regional divisions below the Premier also saw the first legs of their playoffs take place during the week. Having been involved in a title challenge until the final games of the season, Eastbourne Borough took great steps to promotion with a 2-0 win in their away leg against Braintree Town.

Having finished six points above their playoff opponents in the regular season, Hampton and Richmond will be confident of joining them in the final after securing a 1-1 draw in their away match against Fisher Athletic.

In the north division, the sides playing at home second both face a struggle to progress after failing to score in their respective first legs. The four sides were separated by only four points during the season, promising a close set of matches in this season-ending competition, and the two lower ranked sides were both victorious.

Barrow were 2-0 winners over AFC Telford, while Southport hold a slender advantage of an immediate return to the Blue Square Premier following a 1-0 win versus Stalybridge Celtic.

With Kettering, who set a record points total for the north division with 97 points, and Lewes already promoted to the top flight of nonleague football, the second legs are set to provide fascinating in the bid of eight teams to secure one of two places to join them.

Meanwhile the Blue Square Premier playoffs are still open affairs, and the battle to join record-breaking Aldershot Town in the Football League next season could go down right to the last.

Matt Ramsay