A weekend to remember for Dave Challinor despite Hartlepool United draw disappointment against Exeter City

Luke Molyneux put the hosts in front after 25-minutes before Sam Nombe levelled things up for Exeter in the build-up to half-time.

No goals followed in the second half as Pools’ perfect start to the League Two season at The Vic came to an end.

And after signing a new three year deal at Pools on Friday, it was a weekend to remember for the Pools boss despite the result.

"I get goosebumps all the time,” he said. “It's a weekend I'll remember for a long time.

"With the game here, the crowd, signing a new contract, dropping my son off at university for the first time. It's been special and we're disappointed not to get a win but we'll take a point.

“I'll be the first to be disappointed when we've not won but we've come up against a good team.

“Their front three are a real threat, we huffed and puffed to get in front. I’m disappointed with the goal we conceded but it was a pretty even game.

"There are things we could do better but, in the grand scheme of things, considering the players we had missing, there are encouraging signs against a side who expect to be up there and have been up there in the past few seasons.”

Assessing both goals, Challinor added: “We were brave in the first half and scored a good goal from being brave. We knew their centre backs would step up and looked to expose that.

“At the other end, they had an opening before the goal. Their number 10 [Nombe] again blazes over, through our doing.

"The goal was our doing, Dales [Matty Daly] isn't the most physical but doesn't win a header in the middle of the pitch against someone smaller than what he is and from that point on, Zaine [Francis-Angol] isn't marking and it ends up in our net.

“Second half we became a bit safe in terms of what we wanted to do and adapted to how they performed against us. It’s disappointing not to win but it’s a point and we'll learn from it.”

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