First League report
Victoria Nikolayevka defeated Kulikov 2:1 in the Fourth round of the First League on 15 August 2026. The hosts took the lead early and then weathered a second-half storm to keep their perfect record intact. They remain top of the table with 16 points from six games, while Kulikov sit in fourth with 11.
S. Sharay opened the scoring in the thirty-fifth minute, giving the home side a cushion before the break. Kulikov pushed back after the interval and V. Semotyuk equalised on the hour mark. That shifted the momentum, and by then the match turned into a test of nerves rather than technique.
M. Boyko ended a barren spell with a double in stoppage time, striking in the eighty-sixth and eighty-seventh minutes to put the result beyond doubt. The visitors had thrown bodies forward, but the defence held every card when it mattered most. and here's the thing — the game was decided in those final minutes, not in the possession statistics.
Kulikov's recent run had given them confidence. They had beaten Prykarpattia 2:1 on 8 August and drawn with Chernihiv a week earlier, so they arrived believing they could take something from Nikolayevka. to be fair, their attacking intent showed in the substitutions. The home side turned to the kids, bringing on fresh legs in the sixtieth and eightieth minutes to close the game out.
Discipline was a factor throughout. V. Patulyak and D. Kirichenko picked up yellow cards in the fifty-fifth and sixty-ninth minutes respectively, and a third booking came in the eighty-fifth. The home side tightened things up after the equaliser, making sure the visitors could not find a late leveller.
The result extends Victoria Nikolayevka's unbeaten run to six games, with five wins and a draw. They have now moved four points clear at the top, and with one more game to play before the next batch of fixtures they are hold the tie in their own hands for the early table position. Kulikov's hopes of an automatic promotion push took a hit, but they remain within striking distance of the leaders.