Recap

The first game of Round 5 saw an interesting match up as Carlton faced up against league leaders Balwyn. In seasons past, this clash had always been close with both teams having a share of the spoils. The game was huge for both teams as Carlton only sat two points behind the three top teams all tied on nine points, and a win would see them go top for a short time at least. It was Balwyn who go off to the better start as Valerio Celenza opened up the scoring with an effort from just outside the area. Carlton held a fair amount of possession in the first half but couldn’t seem to do much with it as Balwyn defended astutely. Balwyn would hit Carlton on the counter as a result of this and it was Celenza again who poked the ball past Puthalakath from close range. To wrap up a near perfect half for Balwyn, new signing Salvi Michele cooly finished from outside the area into the bottom right corner with a toe poke. Carlton could do nothing to break down the Balwyn defence, and the score remained at 0-3 till half time.

The second half was a similar story to the first as Carlton pressed as hard as they could to break Balwyn down, but could not seem to find a way. The game had already been physical from the first whistle but as Carlton became increasingly frustrated, tempers started to boil over. A number of Carlton players were booked before eventually, Heart captain Mo Ayache was sent off for dissent. Balwyn didn’t manage to to take advantage of the two minute period where they were a man up, but soon the added their fourth, as Celenza wrapped up his hatrick with some neat footwork to create some space for himself before finishing. Carlton’s efforts would finally be finally rewarded with a goal late in the game, but it was a mere consolation, as Michele added his second soon after, to wrap up a classy performance from Balwyn.

Man of the Match: Valerio Celenza (FC Balwyn)