Recap
The first game of Round 18 saw a lower half of the table clash as last placed Carlton took on Ashburton, who needed a win to stay in contention with the top five. Ashburton found the net first when Shams Haidari was found at the back post, before Amir Behroozi doubled the Warriors advantage soon after. Carlton did not panic however, as they perhaps have been guilty of in recent weeks, and soon they hit the score board, as Dylan Govic hit impressive low strike from distance into the bottom left corner. Some good ball movement from the Heart then saw Chaaban Rajab find J.P Nicolacopoulos at the top of the area and he swept the ball home into the roof of the net. A mistake in their defensive half from Carlton saw a loose ball fall to Ahmed Hassani, who slammed the ball into the top left corner. An excellent pass from Rajab from distance found Nicolacopoulos at the back post, who flicked it home. Soon after Cuneyt Aydin slammed a shot at Omid Azami and all he could do was parry the ball straight up, and Govic was on hand to tuck the ball home from close range. A dazzling run from Mehran Shafiei then saw him find Haidari with an open goal to tap into and he made no mistake, ensuring the scores were level going into half time of an intense match.
The second half of the match saw both teams sure up defensively after such a hectic, goal filled first half. Eventually though, Govic was presented with another tap in to put Carlton up once more, however a stroke of bad luck saw an Ashburton cross deflect in off Rajab for an own goal. A bouncing loose ball in the Ashburton half was slammed home by Jackson Georgi to give them the lead once more with less than 10 minutes remaining. Carlton were defending immensely as they could smell their first win since Round four, however Haidari would toe poke home with less than 2 minutes remaining to snatch a point and break Carlton’s hearts.
MAn of the Match: Chaaban Rajab (FC Carlton Heart)