Irtysh Did Not Slip Up

A year ago, Aksu won their first match in the U17 tournament but stumbled in the second round. Now, a year older, they are competing in the main competition – and this time, they secured a victory in the second round as well.

It could have turned out differently. The Pavlodar team was trailing Taraz 0:1 in an away match up until the 69th minute, but in the final twenty minutes they scored twice – with the winning goal coming just before the end of regular time.

Now, with two victories, Irtysh sits in second place in the Freedom QJ League standings – just behind Kairat, who lead thanks to a better goal difference.

The hero of the first matchweek, Ruslan Rakhmetov, did not take part in the game – as a reminder, following his standout performance, he was called up to train with the senior team.

It is also worth noting that in the match between the 2009-born teams, Tamerlan Shokanov had an outstanding performance for Irtysh – he scored a hat-trick, with the final score showing a 5:2 victory for the Pavlodar side.

The only match that ended with a Taraz victory took place in the U16 tournament – Beknur Talgatov scored the game's only goal.

Two Slip-ups by Kairat

After starting the U17 competition with a commanding win over Kaysar, Kairat dropped points at home against Caspiy – neither side managed to break the deadlock in 90 minutes. A draw also occurred in the U16 match, but it was a hard-fought one: Yahya Baymenov’s goal was answered by a precise strike from Aslan Tulebay for the Aktau club.

However, in the main tournament, the Yellow and Blacks reaffirmed their status as favorites by defeating the club from Aktau with a 4:2 victory. All goals for Kairat were scored by different players: Abilai Toleukhan, Sanat Nurbolat, Aliden Musaipov, and Tore Ismagulov, while for Caspiy, Abilkaiyr Zharmukhamet and Shakhmardan Demesin found the net.

Now, Toleukhan and Ruslan Rakhmetov are leading the scoring race – each with three goals to their name.

Tobol’s Fiasco

The Kostanay team lost all three matches in their away games against Zhas Kyran. The most painful defeat came in the U17 tournament – by the end of regular time, the scoreboard showed an unpleasant 11:0 for the visitors.

By losing with such a margin, Tobol matched the anti-record of League A – a record they themselves had previously set. As a reminder, last year Kairat defeated the Kostanay side 12:1 in the main tournament. As for League B, the record there remains the 13:0 result from the 2024 match between Zhetisu and Ulytau.

At the same time, Sergey Maslenov’s team has failed to score for the second match in a row – while conceding 18 goals over the course of two games.

The Highest-Scoring Matches of the Week

Freedom QJ League: Kairat – Caspiy (4:2).

Freedom QJ League U-17: Zhas Kyran – Tobol (11:0).

Freedom QJ League U-16: Atyrau – Shakhtyor (3:2).

Bakhtiyar Kussainov