Former Notts County and Chesterfield man Gary Liddle felt 3-2 scoreline was harsh on Hartlepool United following play-off win over Bromley

Pools raced into a 3-0 lead with two goals from Rhys Oates and another from Luke Armstrong inside the opening 24-minutes of the match.

The hosts continued to pile on the pressure and had chances to extend their lead further before James Alabi pulled a goal back for Bromley early in the second half.

After that, Hartlepool continued to control the game as they looked to be seeing out the victory well until Bromley scored a second deep into stoppage time to make the scoreline look significantly more respectable from their perspective.

It meant both National League play-off matches that took place over the weekend finished with the same 3-2 scoreline following Notts County’s win over Chesterfield on Saturday.

“I was speaking to Feaths [Nicky Featherstone] and a few of the lads last night and I was saying if we could get two or 3-0 up by half-time then it would be dreamland and we obviously found ourselves on the right side of that,” Liddle said.

“They’re never easy these play-off games and you saw with the Notts and Chezzy game that anything can happen.

"It was a bit nervy for everyone the last couple of minutes but good to be on the right side of it.”

Discussing the final scoreline, the Pools defender told The Mail: “We had a dream 45-minutes where they couldn’t get near us and you wouldn’t want the game to go any other way.

"It wasn’t a tough second half but one we knew would be different because they made a couple of changes and put another big lad up top. They’re a direct team anyway but they used him a lot more.

"The 3-2 scoreline probably doesn’t reflect the nature of the game and makes it look a lot more nervy than it was. It was a pretty comfortable afternoon and one we’re pleased to get through with in front of the fans.”

Liddle and his Pools teammate will now prepare for Sunday’s play-off semi-final at Stockport County (12pm kick-off) as they look to book a place in the promotion final the following Sunday at Ashton Gate.

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