Pelister centurion set to step aside

Having become only the third player to reach 100 league goals in FYR Macedonia, Draganco Dimitrovski is keen to make way for young talent at FK Pelister as he reaches the end of his career.

Landmark achievement
The 32-year-old struck four minutes into FK Pelister's 3-1 win at FK Sloga Jugomagnat on 4 November to reach the landmark century, and said: "My dream has come true; I scored 100 goals in the championship. I will always remember the moment when I scored this goal." Another strike in a 3-0 win against FK Metalurg Skopje on 8 November means he is now the third most prolific scorer in Prva Liga history with 101 goals.

Noble outlook
The record holder with 123 goals is former FK Sileks striker Zoran Boskovski, who also scored FYR Macedonia's first international goal as an independent nation, while Vanco Micevski – a former Sileks and Pelister player – is second in the rankings with 108. Dimitrovski may yet move up that table, but is eager not to outstay his welcome with the Bitola club. "I will play for a year or two more then I will think about retirement," he explained. "We have talented players here at Pelister and I should make way for some of them. I happy that when I retire Pelister will still have good forwards."

International success
Capped 14 times by FYR Macedonia between 2001 and 2004, Dimitrovski scored twice for his country, but understands why he did not accomplish more at international level. "I would like to have played more and scored more for the national team, but I'm satisfied," he said. "There was a lot of competition for places in the team in my time."

Two-horse race
Pelister are fourth in the table, with the title race looking to be a straight battle between leaders FK Renova and FK Rabotnicki at the halfway stage, with seven points separating the latter from champions FK Makedonija GP Skopje in third. Rabotnicki had been unbeaten prior to a 2-0 loss to the Gypsum Boys of Renova in Dzepciste on Sunday.

Vardar abyss
Meanwhile, the decline of Rabotnicki's arch rivals FK Vardar continues unabated. More poor results prompted the club to fire coach Mario Vujović, with youth coach Gjorgji Todorovski now the fourth coach to lead the Red-Blacks this season. Tenth in the 12-team table, they are expected to appoint a fifth coach during the winter break.