The effect of finishing on an O-League high has taken its toll on Marist FC after they were dumped 2-1 by rivals Kossa in an action-packed matc h at Lawson Tama Stadium at the weekend.

Marist FC - playing without their ace strikers Abraham Iniga and Jack Samani due to transfer complications - were unable to take the field for the local side as Marist FC's forwards rarely threatened the organised and compact Kossa defence.

Going into the halftime break scoreless, both coaches must have grilled their players to lift their performance with Kossa's Jacob Moli replacing Samson Wahero with former Marist FC heroes James Naka and Joe Luwi moved to wider positions.

The changes had an immediate pay-off for Kossa when Naka slammed home a low shot from his second attempt to break the deadloc just after the restart.

Michael Misitana coverted a penalty for Marist, to level the scores after Lension Bisili was chopped down inside the 18 yards box by a Kossa defender.

But any hope for a draw and shared points was put beyond doubt when Kossa's key defender and captain Gideon Omokirio added the second to seal victory for his team.

To add to Marist's woes, replacement forward player John Manebona who went in to add fire power upfront had to be stretched off the pitch after he collided with Kossa keeper John Morgan and sustained a suspected broken leg.

The up and coming striker from Ngela in the Central Province had earlier this year broke one of his legs during at the OFC U-20 Championship - New Zealand 2007 competition in Auckland in their opening match against New Zealand.

It was a blow for Marist and their players' whose morale slumped to a low following this incident that they never recovered from.

Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) President Reynald Temarii and former France and Real Madrid professionall footballer Christian Karembeu have met the top management of Canal France International (CFI) in Paris to discuss a deal that could change the face of televised football coverage in the Oceania region.

CFI - a French subsidiary of FRANCE TELEVISION - is specialized in international cooperation in the TV sector and provides technical assistance to local TV partners and supporting production of local content, CFI contributes to develop local media in Africa, Asia-Oceania, Central and Eastern Europe and the Arab World.

CFI expressed a strong interest in providing technical assistance to Oceania's TV stations through a partnership program with OFC.

CFI's representative Jean Mino said that partnerships with local TV in the Oceania region to promote football broadcasting in each member country was an interesting project and said that CFI could assist in areas such as training courses to managers of Oceania's TV stations and assistance in the broadcasting of FIFA, UEFA and OFC competitions in Oceania.

Both CFI and OFC agreed to meet in the next future to sign a more detailed and specific memorandum agreement outlining this partnership program.

Waitakere United have taken the initiative in the race for top honours in Group A of the 2007 OFC O-League following a 3-0 victory over AS Mont Dore today. Waitakere's victory means a draw in their final Group A match against arch-rivals Auckland City will be enough to seal an O-League Final berth for the West Aucklanders against Fijian champions Ba.

Goals for Solomon Islands international Commins Menapi, Michael Gwyther and Craig Wylie have put Waitakere United in the driving seat ahead of the Group A showdown on Wednesday April 4th and NZFC Final at North Harbour Stadium on Monday 16th April, 2007 against Auckland City.

Waitakere United coach Steve Cain was delighted with the performance, "The team turned in a very professional performance and I'm very very pleased with the result. AS Mont Dore played very well at times and looked dangerous and it wasn't until we got the third goal that the result was secured."

Waitakere United emerged from the fixture with no injury worries ahead of the April 4th showdown with Auckland City but Cain refused to believe that Waitakere United have one foot in the 2007 OFC O-League Final.

"The outcome of Group A is in the lap of the Gods and we will have to wait and see before we start celebrating anything but we will go into the game full of confidence, " Cain said.

AS Mont Dore's fourth straight O-League defeat means New Caledonia's club representative will participate in the O-League Preliminary Tournament scheduled for May, 2007, in the Cook Islands.

OFC Champions League

Group A

At Stade Nouma Daly,

Noumea,

New Caledonia

AS Mont Dore 0

Waitakere United 3 (Commins Menapi 11, Michael Gwyther 39, Craig Wylie 50)

Halftime: 0-2

Standings - Group A

Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA Points

Waitakere United (NZL) 3 2 1 0 11 3 7

Auckland City (NZL) 3 2 1 0 8 2 7

AS Mont Dore (NCL) 4 0 0 4 1 15 0

Remaining Fixtures:

Wednesday 4th April, 2007

Auckland City vs. Waitakere United

At Kiwitea Street,

Auckland

Kickoff: 4.00pm

GOALSCORERS:

4 - Commins MENAPI (Waitakere United)

3 - Paul URLOVIC (Auckland City), Grant YOUNG (Auckland City), Joe LUWI (Marist FC)

2 - Daniel KOPRIVCIC (Waitakere United), Bryan LITTLE (Auckland City), Laisenia TUBA (Ba FC), Keni DOIDOI (Ba FC).

1 - Osea VAKATALESAU (Ba FC), Danny HAY (Waitakere United), Allan PEARCE (Waitakere United), Hoani EDWARDS (Waitakere United), Patrick DIAIKE (AS Mont Dore), Roneel KUMAR (Ba FC), Jean Francois KABEU (AS Temanava), Tuimasi MANOCI (Ba FC), Roberto POIROI (AS Temanava), Maheanu ARAPARII (AS Temanava), James NAKA (Marist FC), Craig WYLIE (Waitakere United), Michael GWYTHER (Waitakere United), own goal.