A quick-fire early double from young striker Jackson Turner helped the Western Knights on their way to a crucial 3-2 win over 10-man Armadale at Alfred Skeet Reserve on Saturday.

In wet conditions, the Knights held firm and could have even extended their lead late on with Armadale losing influential defender Mark McClements to a red card following a professional foul on Turner.

It took only three minutes for Turner to strike on his league debut, slotting home from Rory Grant's flick.

Eleven minutes later it was 2-0 when Turner again found the net with a clever finish past Armadale ‘keeper Cyril Sharrock following a period of extreme attacking pressure from the Knights.

But all of the visiting side's hard work seemed undone just 90 seconds later when stand-in custodian Alfie Brincat gifted Armadale midfielder Joseph Tavernese a free shot and a goal after a horrible defensive blunder.

Despite the setback, the Knights continued to dominate and thought they had a penalty when McClements pulled Turner back when seemingly through on goal.

Referee Paul Anderson awarded the penalty but correctly changed his call to a free-kick after consulting his assistant as the initial contact occurred just outside the goal square.

Knights' coach Willie Kelly was visibly frustrated at the decision to only caution McClements, but his mood improved when David Caine's shot hit the arm of an Armadale defender and referee Anderson duly pointed to the spot.

Up stepped veteran Ivan Zuvela to smash home the resulting penalty and send the Knights into the interval with a handy 3-1 lead.

Armadale came out with more purpose in the second half and stocky striker Ravi Kuppusamy should have pulled a goal back in the 63^rd minute but fired wide after a mistake from Zuvela following Tavernese's long throw.

It took Kuppusamy only two minutes to redeem himself though, as he got on the end of a fabulous team move from Armadale to score and breathe life into the contest with plenty of time remaining.

But the Knights should have put the game to bed only moments later when Turner missed the chance to complete his hat-trick - crushing a close-range effort onto Sharrock's crossbar, much to the disbelief of the travelling support.

As regulation time came to a close, Armadale pushed numbers forward and was made to pay when the impressive Turner counter-attacked and found himself through on goal before being cynically tripped by McClements who this time received his marching orders as a result.

With an extra man for the last few minutes, the Knights endured some nervy moments but held on to complete a vital double over their opponents and move five points clear of the relegation places.

Armadale 2 (Joseph TAVERNESE 16', Ravi KUPPUSAMY 65')
Western Knights 3 (Jackson TURNER 3',14', Ivan ZUVELA pen 41')

Date: Saturday, 16 June 2012

Ground: Alfred Skeet Reserve, Forrestdale

Match time: 3:00pm

Referee: Paul ANDERSON

Assistant referees: R. HALL and M.CASTELLI

Armadale: 1. Cyril SHARROCK (gk), 3. Mark McCLEMENTS, 5. Nick VIAGGIO, 6. Joshua MADDISON, 7. Ravi KUPPUSAMY, 10. Alan DARLINGTON (c) (8. Allan CLAXTON 86'), 11. Blake ADAMS (9. Darren FRANCIS 46'), 13. Sam LOVELESS (4. Wilf DINSDALE 79'), 14. Mitch CASTRILLI, 15. Joseph TAVERNESE, 16. Tom BISS

Substitutes not used: 20. Jack ADAMS (rgk), 12. Nathan COSTELLO

Yellow cards: Mark McCLEMENTS 39',90' Joshua MADDISON 46', Cyril SHARROCK 81'

Red cards: Mark McCLEMENTS 90'

Western Knights: 1. Alfie BRINCAT (gk), 2. Matthew ALLEN, 3. Jordan COLASANTE, 4. Jesse FULLER, 5. David ANNALL (c), 6. Ethan LEVITT, 7. Ivan ZUVELA, 8. Ryan SHACKLETON, 9. Rory GRANT, 10. David CAINE, 11. Jackson TURNER

Substitutes not used: RGK. Kevin MILLER (rgk), 12. Julian TELES, 13. Edin KOLAKOVIC, 14. Hilario NUNES

Yellow cards: Ethan LEVITT 28', David CAINE 80'

Red cards: Nil