BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

04/11/2006

BATE Borisov clinch Belarus title

MINSK, Nov 4 (Reuters) - BATE Borisov clinched the Belarus title and a league and cup double on Saturday despite losing 3-2 at last year's champions Shakhtyor Soligorsk on the final day of the season.

BATE were declared league champions after Dynamo Minsk were held to a 0-0 draw at Dynamo Brest in the later match, played in a heavy snowstorm.

The win would have given Dynamo Minsk 54 points and a share of first place, forcing a one-off "golden match" against BATE.

Dynamo Minsk coach Alexei Petrushin blamed bad weather for his team's poor play.

"The match was delayed two hours and my players became too nervous waiting for the stadium workers to clear the pitch of snow," Petrushin told reporters. "It was also awfully difficult to score on a pitch like that."

It was BATE's third league title and their first since 2002.

The club from Borisov, an industrial town just east of the Belarus capital Minsk, beat Shakhtyor Soligorsk 3-1 in the cup final in May.

Source:

http://au.sports.yahoo.com/061104/3/yiwe.html