The women’s team, yet to lose a game at this tournament, took on a Papua New Guinea side that had won the last two titles and the hosts were hoping to bring about a changing of the guards.
But they could not prevent their opponents making it three in a row as a last-gasp Linah Honeakii penalty gave Papua New Guinea a 2-1 win in front of a packed Numa Daly.
The scores were locked at 1-1 going into the final seconds and it looked like the large crowd would be treated to another 30 minutes of action in the form of extra time.
But Fijian referee Finau Vulivuli had no hesitation in pointing to the spot when Ara Midi appeared to be clipped in the box and Honeakii kept her cool to slot home the penalty and earn her country an historic hat-trick of titles.
The home side suffered no such heartbreak in the men’s final though, stamping their authority on Solomon Islands with two quick fire goals early on.
It took only nine minutes for Christophe Coursimault’s charges to go ahead through a Georges Gope-Fenepej drive and the lead was doubled just a couple of minutes later when Marius Bako sent the capacity crowd into raptures by curling a shot from the edge of the area into the top corner.
Despite plenty of endeavour on the part of Solomon Islands, they struggled to create anything going forward and never seriously threatened to overhaul New Caledonia’s advantage as the champions retained their title with a 2-0 win.
The boot was on the other foot for the New Caledonia women, however, who fought their way back into the game after falling behind to a Midi goal in the 25th minute, only to see that hard work undone from the penalty spot in the dying seconds.
Midi got the scoring underway when she latched onto a through ball and beat oncoming goalkeeper Beatrice Toluafe but the goal which cancelled that strike out was worth the price of admission alone.
Les Cagous skipper Christelle Wahnawe, whose goals and inspirational play had been a key part of the side’s success, stepped up to take a free kick four minutes before the break and the chances of her finding the net appeared slim as the mark was fully 25 yards out and a Papua New Guinea wall was in place.
But Wahnawe did not let that bother her and curled a spectacular effort over the wall and out of the reach of goalkeeper Linda Bunaga to send the fans, many of whom were still streaming through the turnstiles as the crowd continued to grow, into ectasy for the first time in the evening.
While they failed to go on and win the game, the New Caledonia players still wrote themselves into the record books as the silver is the first medal the country has won since a women’s football tournament was first established at the Pacific Games in 2003.
The men are much more familiar with Games success and their latest triumph is particularly noteworthy as it means their title tally now stands at six – the highest of any country to have taken part since the competition began in 1963.

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