All roads lead to...Ashford, Brentwood, Canvey and Herne Bay

We've reached the moment when hope springs eternal, and tonight the first eight of our sixteen qualified teams kick off in the Pitching In Isthmian North and South East Play Off Semi Finals.

In the North, Brentwood Town will host Stowmarket Town only three days after Stowmarket Town hosted Brentwood Town. That match on Saturday saw the Blues take home advantage by scoring the only goal four minutes from time, whilst their first meeting of the season, at the Arena, ended in a one-one draw. Whether home advantage will be critical for Brentwood remains to be seen, but given that Saturday's defeat was only the second time this season that fortress Stow had been breached it is certain that the Suffolk side tend to be stronger at home than on the road. The Blues are describing this as their "biggest game in years"- and perhaps the last biggest game was also a play off match, a five-nil win over Thurrock which sealed promotion in May 2015.

Elsewhere in Essex, Canvey Island welcome Felixstowe and Walton United. The Gulls have had a fine season and spent much of it at the summit, in the end finishing just two points behind Champions Aveley. The Seasiders came up on the rails to grab the final play off spot, and are in tremendous form, having won their last six matches. When the two last met at Park Lane the Gulls won by one goal to nil, whilst the Seasiders triumphed two-nil in the return fixture, a week prior to Christmas.

There were six points between them at the end of the campaign, but a goal difference of +43 in favour of the home side, perhaps due mainly to the fact that they've scored one hundred league goals, fifty eight of them at home. That record puts them level with Worthing, Hayes & Yeading Utd and Bedford Town as the highest scorers in Steps One to Four.

There will be a paper programme tonight, and if that's important to you then you can order it online up until 12 noon by heading here.

Our image shows Heybridge Swifts celebrating after winning our last play off final, three years ago.

Into the Pitching In Isthmian South East, and we're off to Ashford United, who host Cray Valley PM. The Nuts and Bolts ended the season with a defeat on Saturday, but they won't care all that much as they already had second place wrapped up by then. Indeed, they've lost their last two, which perhaps means they were focused entirely on the Play Offs. Their opponents, meanwhile, have had an even bigger drop off in form, with only one point from their last four matches, so perhaps were even more distracted by the end of season finale.

The last time the two met, at Homelands at the end of February, the hosts triumphed by three goals to one- the previous game went the way of the Millers, who one one-nil. The Nuts and Bolts have the third best home record in the division, whilst the Millers have the second best away record- but only on goal difference, ahead of...Ashford United.

You can purchase tickets online, but it isn't compulsory!

At the Kentish seaside, Herne Bay welcome Haywards Heath Town. A late run saw Bay sweep into the play offs and finish as high as third, particularly due to them winning their last four matches whilst Ramsgate, who were in the driving seat for the majority of the campaign, fell to bits and lost six in a row- not that any Bay fans will take any glory from us mentioning that! Heath went off the boil on the run in, with one win, three goalless draws and a defeat from their last five, and will also have been delighted with the Rams implosion. The two matches between the sides this season both ended in one-nil away wins, which suggests that this one may be rather tight. Heath are difficult to beat on the road, with only three defeats all season, whilst Bay's home statistics are bettered only by champions Hastings United.

You can buy your tickets to the match here, but of course they will be available at the turnstiles as normal. Gates to the MBS Stadium will open at 17:30, and between 17:30 and 19:00, lager will only be £3, for those of you who like that sort of thing.

We wish all four sides the very best of luck- and we'll be seeing two of you on Saturday!

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