Despite having already secured their place in the next edition of the OFC Champions League, Dragon and Vénus still had the pride of a domestic title to play for in the final of the 2016-17 Ligue 1 Championship on Sunday.
After a thrilling 90 minutes of football, it fell in Dragon’s favour as the side won 2-0 to claim the title of Ligue 1 champions.
Dragon were solid from the outset at Stade Pater with the attack enjoying a number of chances to open the scoring from early on.
For their part, there were several opportunities for Vénus as well which, had they pulled them off, could have changed the face of the match.
Neither side could say that they dominated the match however.
With the championships leading goal scorer Teaonui Tehau and fellow national team member Tauhiti Keck putting in decent shifts, Vénus were looking good.
Dragon had an equal work rate and were eventually able to take the lead in the 74th minute as captain Tamatoa Tetauira foudn the back of the net.
Ten minutes later it seemed that it was more-or-less over for Vénus as Manarii Porlier scored a second.
The 2016-17 Championship season was played in three phases which got underway in September 2016 with ten teams taking part, including the national U-17 team.
At the conclusion of the tightly fought championship, it was 2017 OFC Champions League semi-finalists AS Tefana leading the with 102 points, followed by Dragon (97), Central (85) and Vénus (84).
What followed was the semi-final play-offs which saw first play fourth, and second play third, the goal of which was to create some suspense at the end of the championship with the top four clubs playing off.
Vénus beat championship leaders Tefana to knock them out of the running while Dragon were winners over Central.