A second half goal blitz from Town, gave them their first win of the holidays and propelled them into fourth place in the National League.
Town made three changes from last Saturday’s match at Boreham Wood, with Jack Emmett, Jack Muldoon and Jon Stead all returning to the starting line up.
An early foul by Pool’s Peter Kiosko on Diamond, heralded a period of Town pressure which ended with Ben Killip turning a rising drive from Stead over his crossbar.
Soon afterwards,Kiosko almost made amends for his earlier foul when he squared the ball across Town’s goal only for Pool’s skipper.Ryan Donaldson,to turn the ball just wide of the upright.
The rest of the half didn’t live up to the early promise and developed into a cagey affair,with neither side able to achieve dominance.
However,it was a different story after the break.
Two goals in the space of four minutes put the Wetherby Roaders firmly into the driving seat.
On fiftyfour minutes, Emmett found Stead,in space,on the right and his low cross reached Lloyd Kerry,who took a touch and then fired past Killip to open the scoring.
Next, Stead was scythed down in the area and Referee Samuel Barrott had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot.Muldoon took the spot kick and blasted the ball into the top left-hand corner of the net,well out of Killip’s reach.
Ten minutes later,Town appeared to be home and dry when Josh Falkingham skilfully turned Diamond’s centre from the left into the net from close range,but Pool’s had other ideas.
The introduction of Nicke Kabamba and Gavan Holohan from the subs bench, gave them fresh impetus, and they began to dominate possession.
It was no surprise when they pulled a goal back with thirteen minutes left.
Town’s defence failed to deal with a cross from the left and the ball fell to Kabamba who drove it past James Belshaw into the bottom corner of the net.
Belshaw then made two vital blocks at the near post as Pool’s tried to stage a late come back.
Unfortunately for the visitors, as the game entered four minutes of stoppage time, they were caught on the break when Muldoon burst out of defence and completed the scoring with an audacious chip over Killip.
Town,
Belshaw,Falkingham,Burrell,Emmett,Bradley,Stead,Kerry,Muldoon,Hall,W Smith,Diamond(Thomsom 87).
Unused subs,Fallowfield.G Smith,Cracknell,Kiernan.
Scorers,Kerry 54,Muldoon58 pen,90,Falkingham 68.
Booked,Burrell,Kerry. Att.2383 Man of the Match,Kerry.
Hartlepool United,
Killip,Kioso,Kitching,Raynes(Kabamba 60),Donaldson,Featherstone(Shelton 79),Hawkes,Mafuta(Holohan 60),Liddle,Toure,Hamilton.
Unused subs,Kerr,Richardson.
Scorer,Kabamba 77.
Referee,S Barrott.
