Veres Rivne vs Nyva Ternopil

Veres started the brighter of the two sides in the second of their two scheduled friendlies on 18 July, having earlier drawn 1-1 with Polissya-2 in the morning. Nyva grew into the contest and forced Veres goalkeeper Valentyn Horokh into a sharp save from a long-range effort in the 20th minute.

Five minutes later, Vladyslav Sharai responded with a dangerous strike from the edge of the Nyva box that visiting goalkeeper Maksym Mekhaniv kept out.

The breakthrough came on 29 minutes. Maksym Smiyan's corner from the left was met by Semen Vovchenko, who won the aerial duel at the near post. The ball flicked off the hands of Mekhaniv, struck the post, and fell to Rostyslav Baran, who hammered home the rebound from close range.

Nyva had a golden chance to level before half-time when a visiting attacker somehow missed an open goal from a few metres out, and the sides went into the break with Veres 1-0 up.

The second half was a more subdued affair until the 76th minute, when referee Oleksandr Krapivin pointed to the spot. Danyil Checher — who had earlier headed a Smiyan cross wide from close range on 64 minutes — was penalised for a foul inside his own box following a botched build-up by the Veres defence.

Serhiy Davydov stepped up and sent Horokh the wrong way from 12 yards, levelling the score at 1-1 in the 77th minute.

Andre Gonsalves had a late chance to snatch victory for the hosts, but his effort was blocked by a Nyva defender in the dying moments.

Rostyslav Baran (Veres Rivne) — Took his goal instinctively, reacting quickest to the rebound off the post from Vovchenko's header. Active throughout his time on the pitch. Player of the match.

Valentyn Horokh (Veres Rivne) — Made a sharp early save from range to keep the scores level before Baran's opener, and commanded his box well. Replaced by Samkov in the 71st minute.

Serhiy Davydov (Nyva Ternopil) — Composed from the penalty spot; his equaliser earned Nyva a share of the spoils in a game where they grew into proceedings after a slow start.

The provider data shows Veres led 1-0 at half-time before Nyva's 77th-minute penalty levelled the contest. The only card of the match was Tsipot's 42nd-minute booking for Veres. The 1-1 scoreline mirrors Veres' earlier result on the same day against Polissya-2, and their pre-season pattern has been inconsistent: three draws (Feniks-Mariupol, Polissya-2, Nyva), two defeats (Bukovyna, Kolos) and one win (YUKSA) across six summer friendlies.

Veres — who finished 11th in the Ukrainian Premier League in 2025/26 — have now drawn three of their six pre-season friendlies. Their next preparation fixture is unconfirmed at the time of writing, with the new UPL season expected to start in early August. Nyva Ternopil, who compete in the Ukrainian First League, will continue their pre-season programme ahead of their league campaign.

A competitive but low-key pre-season friendly that followed a familiar pattern: Veres took an early lead but could not hold it, and a second-half penalty earned Nyva a deserved draw. Neither side will read much into the result, but Veres' failure to turn dominance into multiple goals remains a concern ahead of the new season.