North Sunshine is revelling in its best start to a season under coach Ben Isai.
The Eagles have claimed a maximum 15 points from five starts to open up a sizeable five-point lead at the top of the Football Federation Victoria men’s state league 1 ladder.
“I’m quite happy at the moment, as you could imagine,” Isai said.
“Five wins from five is a massive start, the best in the time that I’ve been at the club.
“It’s put us in a good spot and we just need to continue on from here.”
North Sunshine claimed a massive scalp in a 3-1 win over Preston Lions at Larissa Reserve on Saturday.
The Lions were tipped to be one of the challengers to the title in the pre-season predictions, but the Eagles victory has already created a huge gulf between the two sides.
“Before the game, we knew that a win for us would put them 10 points behind,” Isai said.
“When you’re more than three games behind, it’s very difficult.
“We were in the exact same position last year with the [eventual champions] Altona Magic, so we knew we could put them in the same boat.”
North Sunshine’s victory had Diellon Memishi’s fingerprints all over it.
Memishi worked through some close attention put on him by the Preston defenders before breaking off the leash to bang in two top-notch goals.
He is the equal leader in the competition’s golden boot with six goals in five games.
“He was voted best on ground,” Isai said.
“His effort throughout the whole game was outstanding.
“They were man marking him, chopping him and making it difficult for him, but he didn’t retaliate or anything.
“When the time came to slot a one-on-one, he did that, then the second goal was a cracker from outside the box, there was no keeper in the world who would’ve saved it.”
It took until the second half for North Sunshine to take the lead.
Ryan Dragovic pounced on a scuffed shot and found the back of the net in the 53rd minute.
The first of Memishi’s goals came four minutes later, but the Lions halved the deficit from the penalty spot through Jip Bartels in the 65th minute.
A Preston comeback was snuffed out when Memishi fired in his ripping second goal.
“Diellon, as he does best, ran at the defence and cracked a shot into the top corner from outside the box,” Isai said. “My voice is lost purely from celebrating that goal.”
Isai praised the impact of veteran centre back Besnik Kutleshi, who is “like a fine wine” that gets better with age.
He was also thrilled with new winger Kohei Meguro.
“He came to training one night, I watched him in one of the passing drills for four minutes, I took him aside and said ‘hey, can you sign here now’,” Isai said. He was rapt and he’s been unbelievable since.”
North Sunshine will make the short trip to Sydenham Park in the sixth round on Saturday.
Sydenham tumbled down to ninth after a 2-0 loss to FC Clifton Hill.
Meanwhile, Western Suburbs remains mid table after a 2-1 loss to Essendon Royals.
A goal from Ajak Panek had Suburbs in front at half-time, but Ryoma Uriu scored twice in the second half to snatch victory for the Royals.
Lance Jenkinson
