Newcastle have claimed their fourth consecutive victory after producing a spirited second-half fightback to defeat the Gold Coast in Brisbane on Saturday.
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In a clash that just about had it all - sin-bins, comebacks and a penalty try - the Knights emerged 28-24 winners in the opening game of Magic Round's second day at Suncorp Stadium.
The Titans looked all but set to hand Newcastle a harsh reality-check after they fought back from trailing 10-0 early to lead 24-10 at half-time.
Newcastle conceded five unanswered tries in the opening 40 minutes after Armstrong scored twice in the first 10 minutes, stunned by a Gold Coast side missing a host of big-name stars.
The Titans punished Newcastle for a basic string of mistakes, scoring four of their five tries immediately after the Knights made an error or gave away a penalty.
Newcastle were not helped by Jackson Hastings further sparking the Titans to life with two separate run-ins around the 30th-minute mark, after the Titans had taken a 14-10 lead.
The halfback was sin-binned after confrontation with firstly David Fifita and then Aaron Schoupp, who also got marched for a 10-minute spell.
The task looked even more difficult for Newcastle when centre Bradman Best failed to return in the second half due to a hamstring injury, but they scored twice in 12 minutes to claw their way back to 24-22.
A penalty-try in the 67th minute, awarded after prop Jacob Saifiti was taken out chasing a grubber, gave Newcastle the advantage and they hung on to escape with a win.
It wasn't without controversy though, after the Titans were denied a try by the Bunker with four minutes remaining.
Brian Kelly looked to have levelled the scores at 28-all, but was ruled to have lost control of the ball.
The decision infuriated Titans coach Des Halser and is sure to be a talking point out of the game.
The win moved Newcastle - albeit temporarily - into eighth position and improved their season win-loss record to 6-5 ahead of a bye next week.
Armstrong, who finished with a hat-trick, bagged the opening try just four minutes in when he backed up a Saifiti break and ran 40 metres to score under the crossbar.
Six minutes later, and shortly after the Titans lost starting prop Jaimin Jolliffe to injury, he had his second, darting between defenders on the left edge to make it 10-0.
Gold Coast hit back through lock Klese Haas who chased down a kick from hooker Sam Verrills. The play came after Knights winger Greg Marzhew had tackled his opposite man in the air contesting a kick, an incident the Titans successfully challenged after it initially went unpunished.
Another Knights mistake led to the Titans' second try, Armstrong knocking on after he and winger Enari Tuala leapt for the same ball, seemingly failing to communicate with each other.
A few tackles after the restart, a simple spread to the left flank allowed Titans winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira to score untouched. Aaron Schoupp's conversion levelled the scores at the 19th-minute mark.
Five minutes later, after the Knights gave away another penalty, Jojo Fifita again out-leapt Marzhew to catch Tom Weaver's pinpoint kick, falling over the try-line for an easy four-pointer.
Trailing 14-10, the Knights got themselves back inside the Titans' 20-metre zone and looked likely after earning a repeat set, but Hastings' run-ins resulted in a penalty to the Titans and the halfback and centre Schoupp being sin-binned.
The Gold Coast again made Newcastle pay for an error after five-eighth Jack Cogger dropped the ball while attempting to place a kick.
Forward fullback Isaac Liu scooped up the ball before offloading to fullback Keano Kini who ran 70-odd metres to score.
Khan-Pereira grabbed his second three minutes before half-time, schooling Tuala on the left flank to give Gold Coast a 24-10 lead.
Armstrong bagged his hat-trick seven minutes after half-time following a break from Dylan Lucas, who had shifted to the left-centre position in place of Best.
Five minutes afterwards, Brodie Jones pounced on a loose ball and scored near the goal-posts. Prop Jack Hetherington had dislodged the ball from Kini's hands as the fullback was returning a kick.
Newcastle produced some desperate defence to keep the Titans out midway through the second stanza, and it all paid off when they hit back at the other end with 12 minutes left to play.
The Knights were awarded a penalty-try after Saifiti was taken out chasing an Adam Elliott grubber.
The Titans looked to have levelled again when Kelly burrowed his way over on the right edge with four minutes remaining, but the Bunker ruled he had lost control of the ball.
