DIELLON Memishi has experienced some dark times in his short soccer career.
Tipped to be a future prospect, Memishi went down with a serious knee injury two years ago and his career came to a grinding halt.
The pain and subsequent long road to recovery was worth it for the now 17-year-old, who played a starring role in North Sunshine Eagles’ 4-2 win over Cairnlea in the Football Federation Victoria men’s state league 3 north-west at Larissa Reserve on Saturday.
Eagles president Besnik Kutleshi told the Weekly that Memishi was unfit when he arrived at the club at the back end of last season because of his inactivity after the injury. But Memishi was prepared to put in the hard yards over summer to be back in peak condition for this season.
‘‘We took him on board last year and he was unfit, but he had a couple of games,” Kutleshi said.
‘‘He has done a full pre-season this year and not looked back since then.’’
Memishi was the difference between the two sides on Saturday.
He bobbed up to score twice, including a fine go-ahead solo effort in the second half, when he took on his opponent, cut in on his left foot and slithered the ball past the Cairnlea goalkeeper almost effortlessly.
North Sunshine bumped Cairnlea from second on the ladder with the win.
Kutleshi said the victory was significant because of the mutual respect that exists between the neighbouring clubs.
“It’s a big win,” he said.
