Bunbury ran out 3-0 winners in a match that could prove decisive in who stays in the top division next season.

The away side now go three points clear of Armadale near the bottom of the table, with three fixtures still to play.

The deadlock was broken in the 22nd minute when the home side failed to deal with a corner. The ball fell to skipper Steve Howson who guided the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

Corners proved difficult for Armadale to deal with throughout the first half, who were clearly lacking the presence of first choice keeper, Sharrock, who was out due to a suspension and in stepped coach Lee Bamber between the sticks. This made both teams with player-coaches, with Matt Lock on the field for the Force.

Chances in the first half were at a premium for both sides, with Armadale unable to convert whatever sort of chance they could create.

The Force came out of the break the stronger side and it only took them six minutes to score their second goal.

Danny Kane took his chance from outside the penalty area very well, which physically deflated Armadale.

Aiden Savory finished of the scoring from the spot after referee Tim Mihovc deemed an Armadale defender had handled the ball inside the penalty area.

Two minutes before scoring his penalty, Savory had missed from six yard out and without a keeper in front of him. Jayden Prosser delivered a ball across the goal and the onrushing Bright Ababio somehow managed to hit the post from two yards after sliding in.

The ball then rebounded to Savory, for a chance that would have been harder to miss, but he did.

Armadale had all but given up after the third goal and now find themselves thrust back into a relegation battle with only nine more points available to them.

Bunbury Forum Force assistant coach Andy Cowley was pleased with the result, but insisted that the hard work was not over for his side yet.

“I think we defended well, we’ve been struggling to keep clean sheets, I think that’s only our second one. What we talked about at training is that we’ve got to stop conceding silly goals from mistakes and today was as good a defensive performance as I’ve seen,” he said.

“We’ve been trying to work on our defensive shape and try to minimise the distance between our defenders, and today it worked really well. We also thought Armadale might be a little suspect in the air at the back, so we tried getting in behind them.

“The last two games have been very important wins. We are not going to say yes we are definitely up; we’re looking at this as another win. I know it’s an old cliché, but it’s just got to be one game at a time.

“Until you’re mathematically safe, you can never know.”

Armadale 0

Bunbury Forum Force 3 (Steve HOWSON 22’, Danny KANE 51’, Aiden SAVORY 70’)

Saturday 11 August, 2012

Alfred Skeet Reserve, Armadale

Kick-off: 3:00pm

Referee: Tim Mihevc

Armadale: 1. Lee BAMBER, 3. Mark McCLEMENTS, 4. Wilf DINSDALE, 5. Nick VIAGGIO, 6. Nathan COSTELLO, 9. Darren FRANCIS, 10. Alan DARLINGTON, 12. Rhys LOXLEY, 13. Sean NICHOLLS (17. Blake ADAMS 67’), 14. Mitch CASTRILLI, 19. Ravi KUPPUSAMY (8. Dale WINGELL 74’)

Unused substitutes: 15. Chris HOLLAND, 18. Callum POTTON, 20. Jack ADAMS

Yellow cards: Alan DARLINGTON 74’

Red cards: Nil

Bunbury Forum Force: 1. Ryan MONTGOMERY, 2. Jarrod MORT, 3. James COGLEY, 4. Ryan RISDON, 5. Steve HOWSON, 6. Jayden PROSSER (12. Martin RYAN 81’), 7. Danny KANE (14. Carlo CHIELLINI 82’), 8. Matt LOCK, 9. Aiden SAVORY (13. Kyle KNOTT 74’), 10. Bright ABABIO, 11. Aaron BRITTAIN

Unused substitutes: 15. Lee STEWART

Yellow cards: Bright ABABIO 42’, 7. Danny KANE 81’

Red cards: Nil