Boutsianis's 17 minutes on the park on Saturday night at Pizzey Park, Miami, produced some sublime touches, a stunning headed goal after eight minutes but shortly after a red card for audible abuse towards a team-mate.

"I insist that my players play with passion and if that means one player having a go at another on the pitch, then that's how you get the best out of them; it happens," Phelan said.

"They both said a few words to each other then Con swore at him. We're all grown men and it happened in the confines of the pitch.

"The referee spotted him, sent him off and it spoiled the game. One of the best players that we've ever had on the Gold Coast and he's sitting in the dressing room [for the rest of the match].

"Fair enough if there are women and kids around and someone is swearing and carrying on - I'm not condoning that - but this happened on the park."

The incident involving former Socceroo and South Melbourne star, while controversial, did not detract from a fine match between two quality sides.

David Mutch's two top drawer strikes that helped the visitor to a win that cemented their spot on top of the premier league, reports goldcoastsoccer.com.au.

With six minutes to go before the interval the Knights squared the ledger when David Mutch grabbed the first of his double with a neat finish after he was picked out beautifully by Keegan Georgio's through ball.

The end-to-end action continued after the break as both sides went for the win in what was becoming a fiercely contested match.

After a feisty opening 20 minutes it was a touch of artistry from midfield schemer David Pilic that put the Knights in front, his 25-metre peach of a free-kick giving Burleigh 'keeper Kane Swift no chance.

A man down and now a goal down, it was looking grim for Col Phelan's Burleigh side but his gritty troops rallied and Wade Russell earned them a lifeline when his determined run was halted in the box by Ivica Sabelja.

Russell dusted himself down and tucked away the resulting penalty to make it 2-2 and it looked as though Burleigh Heads were on their way to a creditable point.

The Knights had other ideas though and they showed their title credentials with a rousing final 10 minutes. Mutch almost restored their lead when Pilic's driving run from midfield set him up, but his shot thundered against the crossbar.

It was a warning sign of things to come however and Mutch made no mistake minutes later when he hit the decisive third for the Knights following some indecision in the home defence.

Ashley Beard made the points absolutely safe with the fourth goal right on the final whistle, to the delight of his coach, John Stewart.

"We had about three or four reserve team players out there as we have a few injuries, so to come here and get a result like this is tremendous," Stewart said.

The result keeps the Knights top of the leaguebut Burleigh have now registered only one win in their last four outings; a statistic that is not lost on boss Col Phelan.

"I say it all the time; if we don't take our chances we get punished."