Magenta secured their 11th Coupe de Caledonie title after narrowly beating northern-based rivals Hienghene Sport 1-0 in the final at Stade Numa Daly on Saturday.

The match got underway as expected, with the two sides unable to get the better of their opponent despite having a sprinkling of chances.

With things looking pretty even it seemed the only way to separate these two sides would be for one of them to make a mistake, and in the end that is exactly what happened.

In the 57th minute a moment of miscommunication between Hienghene goalkeeper Rocky Nyikeine and defender Erwan Ausu on the edge of the box saw the keeper’s clearance ricochet back into the empty net off the defender.

Hienghene did everything they could to at least pull themselves even with the Super Ligue leaders but found themselves continuously just off-target.

It seemed things might change when Mickael Tiaou was sent off in the 83rd minute for a challenge on Miguel Kayara, but with Hienghene having already made their three substitutions and Kayara unable to continue the match, Felix Tagawa’s side were unable to use the expulsion to their advantage.

Tagawa was disappointed with the manner in which his side lost the match after working hard in the build-up to the encounter.

“It’s a shame because we studied our opponent well,” he said.

“The goal was just the result of the goalkeeper and the defender not communicating, but overall we weren’t too bad but were just missing the final touch.”

For opposing coach Alain Moizan the title marks his fourth Coupe de Caledonie while in charge of Magenta marking a personal achievement as well as one for the club.

While obviously delighted to be lifting the trophy, Moizan acknowledged it wasn’t the best game he’s seen from his side.

“It wasn’t a great match in terms of technique, but the main thing is to win,” he said.

“There are players with a lot of potential and they had what they needed today to win, which Hienghene was missing on this occasion.”

Magenta will now enter the 7th Round of the Coupe de France which means welcoming a yet to be determined club side from France on the 10 November.