F.Y.R. Macedonia round-up: Vardar claim consecutive championships

FK Vardar secured the Prva Liga title with a 6-2 win at home to FK Tikves in the penultimate round of matches.

Unassailable advantage
The victory, coupled with second-placed FK Belasica GC's unexpected 6-1 defeat at third-placed FK Pobeda, gave Vardar an unassailable six-point advantage at the top with just one match left to play. The title is Vardar's second successive championship and fifth overall.

Petkov instrumental
Vardar's latest win was inspired by Oliveira and Bulgarian Mario Petkov, who each scored twice, with Srdjan Zaharievski and Aleksandar Vasoski rounding off the win while Antonio Tasev's two goals were not enough for the away side.

Four for Dimitrovski
Meanwhile, Pobeda striker Dragan Dimitrovski scored four times in his side's emphatic win, with Cedomir Mijanovic and Gilson also on target and Yuri Stefanisin's last-minute own goal all Belasica could manage.

Midweek matches
Wednesday's round of matches saw Vardar defeat Pobeda 4-3, with Bulgarian striker Petkov scoring a hat-trick, while Belasica won 3-1 against FK Sileks, with Zoran Baldovaliev, Pance Stojanov and Sasa Jelovac on the scoresheet.

Relegations confirmed
At the bottom of the table, the last two games saw the relegation candidates confirmed, with FK Kumanovo joined in the second division next season by FK Pelister, whose hopes of avoiding the drop were ended by two defeats, as they lost 6-3 to FK Sloga Jugomagnat on Wednesday and 3-1 to FK Rabotnicki on Saturday.

Two promotions
Their places in the top flight will be taken by KS Bashkimi from Kumanovo and Skopje side FK Madzari, who have confirmed their promotions from the second division.