Hartlepool United boss Matthew Bates believes that his side will give someone a '˜hiding' very soon ahead of Maidenhead United game

Pools produced an excellent first-half performance against Braintree Town in midweek, battering their opponents for 45 minutes at Cressing Road.

Only a combination of bad luck and poor finishing stopped the game being all over by half-time, with the visitors only having a Niko Muir goal to show for their dominance.

Liam Noble missed a penalty and other chances went begging, while after the break Pools had more opportunities to put the game to bed by grabbing a second goal.

Those misses came back to bite them on the backside, however, with Braintree grabbing an undeserved injury-time equaliser to deny Pools a first win of the season – in a repeat of their draw against Harrogate.

Bates remains confident his side will get the results their performances deserve however, with tomorrow’s home game against Maidenhead a perfect place to start.

“On another day it’s 7-1 and that’s no exaggeration,” he said. “There was the missed penalty and we missed a load of chances.

“I’ve said it before and I’m even more sure of it now that things will change. Someone is going to get a real hiding off Hartlepool United soon.

“It’s been hard to take - you look at Harrogate with a last-minute goal, against Braintree with another last-minute goal and we could have four more points.

“I’m sure we will get a few last-minute goals where we don’t deserve to win or get a point, but hopefully that happens sooner rather than later.”