Dave Challinor: 4-0 win at Maidenhead a 'get out of jail free card' for Hartlepool United

Pools survived a first-half onslaught from the hosts unscathed before a deflected Nicky Featherstone free-kick put them ahead at the break against the run of play.

That turned the momentum firmly in Pools’ favour as within five minutes of the restart they were 3-0 ahead thanks to goals from Claudio Ofosu and Ryan Johnson.

A deflected Gavan Holohan strike added some gloss to the scoreline late on but following the full-time result, Challinor was focusing on what his side needed to improve opposed to what they did well at York Road.

“The game should have been over at half-time,” he admitted

“We weren’t at it and didn’t do the basics well, our defending was shocking yet we kept a clean sheet somehow. We were miles better in the second half but it's a get of jail free card.

“Based on the second-half performance, we deserved to win 4-0 but Maidenhead should have been out of sight at half-time let alone us being in front.

"Our goal came against the run of play in first-half stoppage time and credit to our lads for the way they turned it around.

“It’s better to learn from winning a game than learn from losing so we’ll take it and the players will absolutely learn from it.”

The half-time team talk from Challinor provoked a significant reaction from the Hartlepool players.

"The message to the players at half-time was that in our first three games we’ve played a sub-par half and a good half of football in all of them,” added the Pools boss.

“We started the game as though we didn't have to defend and I told the players that and it was on them to come out second half and turn it around. The team talk didn’t change with the goal just before half-time but it gave us a lift and showed the players that they had really got away with one in the first half.

“It shouldn’t take me to slate them to get a reaction but we're obviously pleased it did and delighted to get another win because winning three in a row at this level is tough.”

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