"We've won a couple of championships since I've been in charge, but this victory is right up there with them (because of) what we had to overcome", said coach Ange Postecoglou after watching nine-man South Melbourne win 2-0 against table-topping Sydney Olympic at Bob Jane on Australia Day.
Coming of the back of a score-line more suitable for a contest at the nearby Melbourne Tennis Centre, South Melbourne had wounded pride and an ailing league position to remedy.
After withstanding a blistering opening from Olympic, South settled when Steve Panopoulos converted a sixth minute penalty after Olympic captain Ante Juric brought down John Anastasiadis in the box.
But the comfort of this early lead evaporated when defender Nick Orlic was sent-off nine minutes later. Orlic committed a last-man foul tackle just outside the penalty-area on Zlatko Arambasic, speeding goalwards.
The reorganised South formation coped with the player deficit, and through new signing Andy Vlahos, managed to launch effective raids themselves. Vlahos came close just before the break with a cheeky chip over George Bouhoutsos which hit the front face of the bar as it dropped, before being scrambled over the line for a corner.
But the debutant was not to be denied. Michael Curcija had replaced Anastasiadis just after the hour and within minutes of his introduction had fed Vlahos with a through ball. The small winger got his angles right to score off the far post and provoke unbridled celebration on and off the park.
"From the first minute, (Vlahos) was buzzing, and I was very happy with him," Postecoglou said, surely underplaying his feelings.
The eventual outcome of the match could scarcely have been guessed after Olympic's storming first five minutes. Within that time, man of the match Jones found his goal under siege. There was a whiff of continuance.
Before most South players had touched the ball, Gabriel Mendez received a cut-back from Pablo Cardozo eight metres out, but flashed his shot wide. Barely a minute later, Jones had to dash smartly off his line to pick the ball off Arambasic's feet as the big striker was through.
But after that early mis-directed pass, Jones never put a foot wrong throughout the rest of the game. He brought off a string of saves, including an impressive double late in the game from Cardozo and Juric as Olympic capitalised on its two player advantage.
Fausto De Amicis was the second South player dismissed after receiving his second yellow card ten minutes from regulation time after tripping Peter Zorbas. It took referee Con Diomis fully a minute to realise he had already written De Amicis' name and so produce the red card, such was the number of players he had booked.
Olympic coach Branko Culina, bristling at a slight he believed Postecoglou made following South's loss in Sydney - attributing it to the vigours of their Brazilian adventure, seethed through much of the post-match discussion.
"If (South) had five players we wouldn't have beaten them tonight, let alone nine or ten", he said. "Today we stumbled."
"Chris Jones made some brilliant saves - Pablo Cardozo on his day is the best player in Australia, but today he couldn't have scored if he had no goalkeeper and he was one metre out - that's how things were going for us."
"I think we've both got a problem. Good teams don't get thumped six-nil, and good teams don't lose against nine or ten players."