Auckland City certainly looked the more threatening side from early on, and Gaitcha's nervous entry into this stage of the competition caused them to commit more fouls than they would have wanted, some of them in rather dangerous territory.
Midfielder Daewook Kim stepped into the role of set-piece deliveryman with Ivan Carril carrying an injury and Darren White suspended. Gaitcha looked shaky on corners and at times struggled to clear the danger.
Young striker Jim Ouka performed valiantly for the Caledonians chasing down loose balls and causing a nuisance in the box along with Bertrand Kai, while captain Emile Bearune patrolled the midfield gathering up what he could and distributing it well.
However against an experienced side like Auckland City a missed opportunity can come back to haunt you and several off-target attempts that could have been dealt with better.
Locked at 0-0 coming back from the break, Auckland City started to increase the pressure and the lack of big match experience started to show through from the club from Gaitcha, on the island of Lifou in New Caledonia as the discipline they'd shown in the first half started to wane.
The set piece pressure increased and eventually they fell to it as Kim whipped in a free kick to the back post where a waiting Marko Dordevic headed it over a reaching Nykiene for what would be the game's only goal.
Tribulietx says Auckland City's opponents came out as they expected.
"They were very similar, trying to capitalise in transition, long ball in the second phase - that's what we were expecting and that's what happened quite a few times.
"From us, we played well, we had the ball and we knew how to break that pressure that was coming very quickly towards us and we created the chances," he explains.
"Maybe there was just a lack of 'freshness' in there that meant we didn't score that goal which would have given us a bit more confidence coming into the last few minutes."
For opposing coach Kevin Coma, the match was the end to an impressive journey for the side celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and one that has helped bring New Caledonia football to new heights.
"To be nil-all at half time was what we deserved at the break really. The players showed that we knew how to defend, that New Caledonia football isn't rushed and that they know how to compete against a professional club - so I'm proud of them," he says.
"We showed the Caledonian football is played with heart. This is a team with a big heart, but we lacked a bit in the game and, even against a team like this, we need to play our game."
While disappointed not to be progressing to the next stage, there have been plenty of lessons learned and experience gained.
"The players have learned a lot, they've gained a lot of experience. It's been extraordinary for this team to qualify for the semi-finals.
"We know we've done something major here and we proved that on the field during this semi-final. We couldn't quite make it to the next step but football is football, we're not going to hide behind the referees or anything like that. We couldn't quite put in place the game we needed to in order to win this."
In the late match Team Wellington struck early to cement a spot in their first OFC Champions League in front of a near full-house at ANZ Stadium in Suva.
The lads from New Zealand's capital city were direct and decisive as they applied pressure from the outset and coach Matt Calcott was pleased his side were able to make themselves comfortable so early into the match.
"We're delighted, it was a great start for us. It was a very tough game in front of a very vocal home crowd, and now it's great to have two New Zealand teams in the final," he says.
"It was pretty chaotic the first 15-20 minutes, obviously we got the two goals and I would have liked us to play a bit more football in that second period of the first half, but it just didn't play out like that.
"Sometimes these games, and the whole tournament so far, have just been a war of attrition and there's some great stuff and some great performances from the boys.
The match was exactly as Calcott described in that first 20 minute period from kick-off with a lot of aerial balls and an exchanging of shots from both teams. Some avoidable errors set Team Wellington up with several threatening dead ball situations before an error in the 18-yard box from a Ba defender had Tahitian referee Norbert Hauata pointing to the spot.
Michael Gwyther was the man that was fouled and the one who stepped up to take the penalty, but the soft effort was put around the post by Ba and Fiji U-20 goalkeeper Misiwani Nairube - much to the vocal crowd's delight.
However just a few seconds later Gwyther got his revenge as he headed home from the resulting corner to hand his side the lead.
An early substitution was forced on Team Wellington after midfielder Jake Butler had to be replaced, with Luis Corrales stepping in for the former Waitakere man. It proved good timing for the visitors as, from the same corner, Gwyther nodded past Nairube a second time to give his side a more comfortable two goal cushion.
Ba continued to battle, and once they settled into the game and started keeping the ball low rather than booting it upfield for their strikers to chase, they began to look a lot more threatening.
Luck looked like it had turned in their favour when a Team Wellington foul in the box in the 27th minute had Hauata pointing to the spot for the second time in the match, with the honour of taking it falling to Keegan Linderboom on this occasion. Unfortunately the effort was poorly struck giving Michael O'Keeffe time to bundle it up and the first real chance of the match for Ba passed.
A couple of changes just after the break from Ba coach Shalen Lal looked to have done the trick for a while as Ba continued to improve in possession, but the finishing was lacking allowing Team Wellington to make history, while Ba crashed out of finals contention for the second year running.
For Lal, it's a disappointing end to what had been a great campaign for a side with such a mix of youth and experience.
"The two goals that we conceded in the first half decided this game for us, but otherwise my boys played really well, especially in the second half," he says.
"I guess we were just really unlucky in the second half, we tried a lot but credit to the defence of the Wellington side; they were wonderful tonight.
"The only thing I can pick up to improve on from this match is the finishing. If it wasn't for the finishing I guess we would have gone up by three or four goals so we will work on finishing and come prepared next time."
The Champions League will conclude on Sunday 26 April with the final between Auckland City FC and Team Wellington, both of New Zealand, at ANZ Stadium in Suva, Fiji from 7pm.
