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.