A FESTIVE TREAT SEES TOP POOLS HIT BACK

WEALDSTONE and Hartlepool United served up a Christmas cracker in the shape of an eight-goal draw, in a thriller at the Vale.

Sean Adarkwa fired a sensational hat-trick to put the Stones on course for victory, but late goals from Josh Umerah and Mitch Hancox earned Pools a share of the spoils.

Stuart Maynard’s men were 3-0 up by the 28th minute but John Askey’s side fought back deservedly to end a run of back-to-back defeats.

Wealdstone were quick out of the traps, scoring within four minutes as Kretzschmar clinically finished past Joel Dixon.

And on 13 minutes, the lead was doubled with a brillaint solo goal from Adarkwa – the striker surging from the half-way line and comfortably dispatching past Dixon from the edge of the box.

Adarkwa then added a second on 28 minutes, latching onto Michah Obiero’s curling through-ball and powerfully firing home.

Just before the stroke of half-time, the Pools were handed a lifeline when Callum Cooke headed Nicky Featherstone’s cross into the bottom corner past Marcus Dewhurst.

And moments later it was 3-2 when Joe Grey squeezed his effort past Dewhurst at the near post to set up a pulsating second half.

Cooke then hit the crossbar as Pools returned from the interval on the front foot, while sub Umerah almost made an instant impact, slipping through Cooke to beat Dewhurst, but Brooklyn Ilunga preserved the scoreline with a crucial goal-line clearance.

Wealdstone too, though, continued to push for another goal and Obiero had the ball in the back of the net in the 74th minute, but the assistant referee flagged for offside.

However, two minutes later, the home side duly made one count – Adarkwa completeing his hat-trick, following up a rebound to fire home into the bottom corner for his seventh goal of the season.

Umerah’s positive influence continued as he pulled another goal back against his former club with 10 minutes remaining, shrugging off his marker to coolly slot home into the bottom corner.

Back came Pools with Cooke hooking an effort narrowly wide before they were finally rewarded for their persistence in the 90th minute as Hancox drove a superb low shot into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

Wealdstone assistant boss Matt Saunders was disappointed not to claim all three points, saying: “It was a frustrating afternoon. To be in the position we were and not win is heartbreaking.

“But it shows how far we’ve come though that drawing to Hartlepool in this manner feels like a defeat.

“We’ve had bit of luck at home recently so we’ve got to put this one to bed and move on to the next one.”