Anthony Limbrick proud of 10-man Pools after battling performance in draw with Dagenham and Redbridge

It was a game that had just about everything. Mani Dieseruvwe missed from the penalty spot after nine minutes, the visitors went in front when the unfortunate Paul Kambalayi turned Joe Grey's effort into his own net, Pools were reduced to 10 men when Louis Stephenson was sent off after 25 minutes before Harry Phipps salvaged a point for the Daggers three minutes from time.

The visitors, bidding to record a fourth successive win, started brightly and should have been in front when the impressive Jake Turner denied Mani Dieseruvwe from 12 yards, guessing correctly and diving to his right to keep out the frontman's less than convincing penalty in the ninth minute.

Undeterred, Pools pressed on and took the lead after 17 minutes when Paul Kambalayi diverted Joe Grey's close range strike into his own goal as the visitors took a well-deserved lead.

There was a dramatic sequence of events midway through the first half. Teenager Louis Stephenson, excellent in recent weeks, was booked for a late challenge on the influential Ryan Hill. Moments later, Tom Parkes was shown a yellow that Daggers fans felt should have been a different colour after he dragged down former Pools frontman Josh Umerah as he bore down on goal. From the resulting free-kick, Stephenson was sent off after charging down the ball before it had been touched; it was a needless booking from the 19-year-old, less than five minutes after his first.

From then on, Pools had to grit their teeth and dig their heels in, although the visitors continued to offer a threat and the towering Billy Sass-Davies forced a fine save from the sprawling Jake Turner just before half time.

Dagenham, who needed something out of the game to keep themselves in with a realistic chance of beating the drop, turned the screw in the second half and substitute Dion Pereira struck the post from the edge of the box as the clock ticked down.

Agonisingly for Pools, the Daggers drew level three minutes from time when Harry Phipps skewed an effort into the bottom corner to rescue a draw and all but extinguish their slim hopes of gatecrashing the play-offs.

On another day or at a different stage in the season, it would have been a good point for Pools, who made the long journey down on the morning of the game and played for well over an hour with 10 men. While it was hard on the visitors to be denied a battling victory so late on, Pools head coach Anthony Limbrick was nonetheless proud of his players' spirited and determined performance.

"Before talking about the game, I'd like to credit the players for that performance and what they did, I thought it was fantastic," he said.

"It was a really tough game and I'm just really proud of them. It's not the result we wanted; of course we wanted to hold on at the end. It's a shame for the travelling fans, I thought they were excellent.

"Massive credit to those players and what they had to deal with in the game today. The work they put in and the bodies they put on the line; from everyone, from the back to the front, from the subs, the goalkeeper and the staff. I'm really, really proud of them."