In short, it was last versus second last in the clash of the former National Soccer League titans in Round 7 of the NSW Premier League.
After the game Tony Raciti, A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt?s football manager, was very upbeat given the positive result for his side.
He said: ?There was a lot pressure on the club in the first seven weeks of the season and this was a must, must win. However, this victory today doesn?t get us out of trouble.
?It was a fantastic win by the boys and we still have two class players to come back ? Marton Vass and David D?Apuzzo ? and I was very happy with the old stalwart?s efforts at training this week with the boys and I am referring to Billy McColl.
?Billy, unfortunately, only wants to be a caretaker coach so now we have to search far and wide for a permanent coach and it needs to be a long-term coach and not just a short-term one.
?On the playing front, I was very happy with our new Japanese signing (Hirofuni Moriyasu) who was fantastic, so too was our 19-year-old Matthew Fsadni and Mark Byrnes was his usual 150% commitment today.?
On to the game and the opening chance fell to Sydney Olympic in the 7? minute when Chris Triantis fired a shot just wide of the mark, but it was to be the only real chance for the visitors in the opening stanza of play.
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt?s reply arrived in the 14? minute when Franco Parisi split the opposition apart with a nice run through the middle, but he was denied a goal by a brilliant save from Zaim Zaneli low down to his left.
The home fans didn?t have to wait too long because A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt opened the scoring through Mark Byrnes who volleyed home from close range shortly afterwards.
The goal was merely the culmination of some great pressure from the Tigers.
A Robert Younis free-kick was met with the slightest deflection and it shaved the post as it went just wide for corner.
From the resulting corner kick, Zaneli failed to clear with a punch and Byrnes, jogging on the spot, volleyed home from close range in the 19? minute.
In the 23? minute A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt doubled their lead. Nick Rizzo finished off a sweeping move from right to left that was started by Parisi, and then continued by the new player for the Tigers, Hirofuni Moriyasu, before Rizzo finally pounced and fired his shot past a stranded Zaneli.
The rest of the first-half meandered out to an anti-climatic end and so too did the early part of the second period.
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt were content with their lead while Sydney Olympic appeared to be a team that no longer cared. It was starting to become a tedious affair until something clicked into gear for the visitors.
That something was Matthew Mayora who, in the space of a few minutes, nearly scored twice.
In the 67? minute he fired a rocket just wide of the mark and backed up in the 69? minute only to force Matthew Nash to pull off the best save of the game.
Finally, Sydney Olympic were awaken from their slumber and it was now only a matter of time before they would eventually score.
When Josh Lawson went down in the penalty-area from a Michael West challenge, referee Kurt Ams awarded a spot kick. Chris Triantis stepped up to the mark and, while not too convincing, scored despite Nash?s best efforts in diving to the right direction.
If Sydney Olympic jumped back to life, then so too did A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt after the penalty.
The Tigers were determined not to let a 2-0 lead slip away and Olympic, instead of pushing ahead for a draw, appeared to go comfortably back into the shell they had created earlier in the game.
Stephen Kayes was given far too much space in the 76? minute after a nice through ball from Parisi and, with an open goal and only Zaneli to beat, he beautifully chipped the goalkeeper to look like Lionel Messi instead of a regular player in the NSW Premier League.
Late in the game Anthony Doumanis, one of the better players for the visitors, tried a long distance shot that narrowly sailed wide.
In the end, it was too little, too late as the once great Sydney Olympic will have a lot of soul-searching to do during the week.
After the game Pat Marando, Sydney Olympic?s disappointed mentor, didn?t hide his mood when he stated:
?I am very disappointed because you can?t give a team a two-goal head start and then expect to go out and beat them.
?We had some good young boys playing for us such as 18 year-olds Steven Tibbets and Jerry Kalouris and 17 year-old Dimitri Petratos and, for me, the young players were a real positive for us.
?However, we gave the ball away 19 times in the first-half ? that was from our official count ? and we can?t go expecting results if we do that.
?We have to face the (West Sydney) Berries next week in a very important match and a big local derby, but we need to find out during the week exactly what it means to be playing for Sydney Olympic.?

Meanwhile, in the Grade 20s Sydney Olympic defeated A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt defeated 4-1.

Match Stats
A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers 3 (Mark Byrnes 19?, Nick Rizzo 23?, Stephen Kayes 76?)

Sydney Olympic 1 (Chris Triantis 70?)

Sunday, 11^th April, 2010
Leichhardt Oval, Leichhardt
Referee: Kurt Ams
Assistant Referees: Adam Coombes and Mike Robertson

A.P.I.A.-Leichhardt Tigers: 1.Matthew Nash; 2.Mark Byrnes, 13.John Kelso, 5.Michael West, 7.Stephen Kayes, 19.Danial Cummins, 16.Hirofuni Moriyasu, 17.Matthew Fsadni, 11.Nick Rizzo, 9.Robert Younis, 10.Franco Parisi (8.Anthony Hartshorn 78?).
Substitutes Not Used: 40.Terry Dal Broi, 20.Mark Pinto, 15.David Dascal, 4.Joseph Cartisano
Yellow Cards: Fsadni 43?
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney Olympic: 1.Zaim Zaneli; 21.Ricky Perinich, 4.Josh Lawson, 24.Mitchell Stamatelis, 18.Jerry Kalouris (16.Steven Tibbets 52?), 11.Phillip Makrys, 5.Tayfun Devrimol (15.Matthew Mayora 29?), 8.Chris Triantis, 14.Ian Ramsay, 10.Anthony Doumanis, 9.James Monie (7.Dimitri Petratos 71?).
Substitutes Not Used: 25.Peter Triantis, 20.Luke Turnbull
Yellow Cards: Doumanis 43?, Makrys 64?
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Mark Byrnes (ALT)
2 – Hirofuni Moriyasu (ALT)
1 – Matthew Fsadni (ALT)
-By Joe Russo