New Caledonia's Nolhann Alebate in action on Saturday. Photo: OFC/Kirk Corrie
Pre-tournament favourites New Zealand lifted their eighth consecutive Oceania Under-17 Football title in Suva on Saturday.
Niko Bruce's first-half goal - when he capitalised on a goalkeeping blunder by Claude Tiaouniane - was enough for a 1-0 win for the Junior All Whites.
They finished the game with just 10 men after Luka Coveny picked up a second yellow card in the second half for a professional foul.
New Caledonia pushed their numerical advantage, dominating play for most of the half, but New Zealand held on, boosted by a terrific performance from goalkeeper Matthew Foord.
Despite the loss, by virtue of winning their semi-final, New Caledonia have qualified for the Under-17s World Cup in Peru later this year alongside the Junior All Whites.
Tahiti secured third place with a 3-0 win over Fiji in the curtain-raiser at the HFC Bank Stadium.
Tribute to former Cup star
The final began with a minute's silence for young New Caledonia player Ruben Katran.
The 20-year-old, who was from Lifou, died on New Year's Eve, in Bordeaux, France.
Katran was a New Caledonia representative at the 2018 Oceania Under-17 tournament, where he was team captain and scored against Samoa.
He was a part of the famous Girodins de Bordeaux club in France.
Sylvain Blaquart, who coached Katran at U-15 level in New Caledonia said he had a superb attitude, and a strong work ethic.
"He was very serious, listened hard, wanted to improve and always made the effort. It was always a pleasure working with him."
Girodins Academy supervisor Mohamed Moumtaz said Katran was "a diplomatic, popular boy, always smiling and always respectful to everybody around him. I used to call him 'the wise man'."
Katran moved to France to play for Girondins Bordeaux in 2017, going through all the club's youth divisions and eventually playing National 3 for Bordeaux's B team.
