Recap
The first game of Round 10 saw a hotly contested match up as improving Carlton took on Ashburton. Carlton came out of the blocks quicker as Ernie Simsek capitalised on a loose ball and finished from the edge of the area. Carlton soon doubled their lead when Omid Azami’s save fell to Jackson Georgi who showed some excellent composure in the area before slotting into the bottom right corner. Ashburton eventually hit back when Amir Behroozi was found open at the back post to tap in. With minutes left in the half the ball was laid off to Simsek from a side ball and he ripped home a shot into the top left corner, to have his side leading 3-1 at the break.
The second half so a much more open affair as Ashburton pressed looking to equalise and Carlton looked to hit on the counter. Samim Mehjerdi got one back for Ashburton side early in the half with a finish from just outside the area. Joey Conroy then restored Carlton’s two goal lead as he drilled his shot low through Azami’s legs. Despite just conceding through his legs, Azami was having a blinder of a game in goals for Ashburton as he made a number of fine saves to keep his side in it. His performance in goal, allowed Ashburton to attack freely and they soon pegged the lead back when Mehran Shafiei slid in at the back post. Hamed Khademi then hit a vicious left footed strike into the bottom right corner to have his side level and Ashburton could sense that the game was there for the taking. Simsek then drifted across the court from left to right before slotting home his hatrick to have the Heart back in front. Khademi then ball rolled in side from the right past his defender before hitting another bottom right corner strike to level the scores once again. In the final minutes of the game, Ahmed Hassani would break Carlton’s hearts as he won the ball deep in in the Carlton half before toe poking home to seal a massive victory for Ashburton.
Man of the Match: Omid Azami (Ashburton FC)