Challinor delighted with Pools’ reaction

Dave Challinor was ‘fuming’ at half-time despite Hartlepool United leading 2-1 at Chesterfield.

Like Notts County and Ebbsfleet United previously, Pools had been excellent in the opening 45-minutes at the Proact Stadium.

But after conceding a sloppy goal on the stroke of halftime, they only had a narrow lead to show for it.

And after letting 2-0 leads slip in each of their last two away matches in the National League, Challinor was pleased to see his side overcome that hurdle in emphatic fashion.

“I was fuming at half-time because we’d dominated the game for 45-minutes and switched off for a minute and it’s happened too many times this season,” he said.

“The players got it a little bit at half-time and I challenged them with a warning that if we didn’t win the game then there’d be trouble.

“I went in at the end and said, ‘well that showed me!’ They reacted brilliantly, sometimes you have to make a decision as to whether you emphasise the positives because there were so many in the first half.

“We won the game in the first half but let them back in it so we had to go and win the game again and we did that unbelievably well.

“To score five away from home is amazing, it’s only three points though so we stay grounded and we move on but I think we can get much better.”

Goals from Gus Mafuta and Luke James put Pools in a commanding position but it was Gime Toure’s strike so soon after the restart that proved vital.

Further goals from Mafuta and Toure in the second half helped Pools see out a 5-1 win, their biggest away win since 2004.

“You’ve seen what can happen when it goes 2-0 then 2-1, but I think the goal quickly at the start of the second half eases the tension from our perspective and gives us the fresh impetus to go and really kick on,” Challinor added.

“The goals we scored second half were excellent and 5-1 wasn’t flattering in any way.

“Four points from the last two games is a good return and it makes the point against Boreham Wood a whole lot better.”