Inhulets Outlasts Ahrobiznes 3-2 in Persha Liga Thriller, Closes Gap in Promotion Race

By early autumn dusk at Stadion Inhulets, the weight of the Persha Liga’s promotion chase pressed palpably on both contenders—Inhulets and Ahrobiznes Volochysk—as they clashed in a five-goal display that saw Inhulets edge their rivals 3-2 and narrow the standings gap to a single point. The match was a statement of resilience from the home side, whose recent momentum has now gathered unmistakable force.

The evening began with Ahrobiznes Volochysk staking an early claim, silencing the home crowd in the 13th minute. Seizing on a nervy clearance, Ahrobiznes’s forward pounced to tuck away the opener—a snapshot of why this club had, before kickoff, stood third in the table and boasted five wins from nine. Their well-drilled defensive line looked, for a moment, ready to suffocate another opponent.

But as the first half wore on, Inhulets grew into the contest with the composure of a side unbeaten in four of their last five. The hosts’ reply arrived in the 32nd minute, courtesy of a sweeping attack down the left; a low cross met the charging midfielder at the edge of the six-yard box, drawing the sides level and reigniting the stadium’s spirit. Only five minutes later, Inhulets completed the turnaround. A cleverly worked set-piece routine saw their center-back rise unmarked at the near post, heading home the go-ahead goal and sending Inhulets into halftime with a slender yet hard-earned advantage.

Coming into tonight, Inhulets’s recent run had been quietly impressive: a 2-0 win over Yarud Mariupol’ and a commanding 4-1 Cup triumph against Podillya Khmelnytskyi had sandwiched a pair of goalless draws, suggesting a side adept at managing margins but still searching for a catalytic moment. Against Ahrobiznes, that moment arrived.

Yet if Inhulets thought the second half would provide safe passage, Ahrobiznes had other plans. Out of the interval, the visitors pressed forward with intent. A piercing through-ball in the 59th minute split the Inhulets backline, allowing Ahrobiznes’s striker to level at 2-2 with a composed finish beneath the keeper. The visitors’ traveling supporters erupted, their hopes of consolidating third place suddenly restored.

But Inhulets, showing their new-found steel, responded with the poise befitting promotion hopefuls. In the 71st minute, a deflected shot from outside the box wrong-footed Ahrobiznes’s goalkeeper, nestling into the corner for what proved to be the match-winner. Stadion Inhulets, sensing the stakes, held its collective breath through the final act.

That tension only mounted in the 85th minute, when Inhulets was reduced to ten men after a high challenge resulted in a red card. With five minutes plus stoppage time to cling to their lead, Inhulets dropped deep, absorbing relentless pressure as Ahrobiznes launched cross after cross into the penalty area. The hosts’ defending was desperate, at times last-ditch—but it held.

At the final whistle, Inhulets had their victory—and with it, a vital shift in the Persha Liga table:

• Ahrobiznes Volochysk remains in third with 18 points (5W-3D-1L), their unbeaten run snapped and their promotion bid suddenly vulnerable.
• Inhulets vaults to fourth place on 16 points (4W-4D-1L), now breathing down Ahrobiznes’s neck as the season’s midpoint approaches.

For Ahrobiznes, the sting is real. Fresh off a resounding 3-0 win over Metalurh Zaporizhya, this loss punctures their aura of consistency and brings old questions about defensive frailty back to the fore. Inhulets, meanwhile, have responded authoritatively to their lone league defeat against Chornomorets, stringing together statement wins and establishing themselves as an attacking force capable of unsettling anyone in the division.

Their head-to-head encounters in prior seasons have often been closely fought, and tonight’s scoreline maintains that tradition of razor-thin margins and late drama. The result does more than just shuffle points in the standings; it resets the narrative of the promotion chase. With both sides locked in a dogfight, every fixture from now carries the weight of a season.

The coming weeks will test whether Inhulets’s recent surge is the shape of things to come or a fleeting upswing. With the likes of Chornomorets and UCSA lurking, the climb is far from over. For Ahrobiznes, recovery must be immediate if their top-three ambitions are to remain intact.

After a night fraught with tension and no shortage of turning points, one truth is inescapable: in the Persha Liga’s unforgiving autumn, every goal, every card, every minute matters—and tonight, it was Inhulets who seized their moment.