Hartlepool United boss pleased with points return after Pools round off 'demanding week' with Brackley Town stalemate
Hartlepool United manager Nicky Featherstone was pleased with his side's return of seven points from their last three matches following Saturday's goalless draw with Brackley Town.
Pools rounded off a momentous week with a somewhat uninspiring 0-0 draw at Brackley, who were crowned National League North champions last season. While Saturday's result didn't do much to further Featherstone's side's play-off ambitions, a run of two wins and a draw in the wake of American businessman and investor Landon Smith's takeover of the club has given fans plenty to be optimistic about.
Having made the worst possible start to life under Smith, losing 4-0 at Woking in their first game since he bought the club from controversial former owner Raj Singh, Pools recorded back-to-back victories over Altrincham and rivals Gateshead.
While Pools were not at their best in either game and might well have been on the wrong end of the result against the Heed had the experienced Louis Storey not been sent off with Gateshead a goal to the good, it nonetheless felt important that Featherstone's side made a strong start to what many supporters hope will be an exciting new era.
All things considered, then, a draw away at a resolute Brackley side feels like a decent enough result for Pools. Although seven points from their last three matches - both Altrincham and the Saints have been battling against relegation, while Gateshead are rock bottom having lost all of their previous 14 games - felt like the bare minimum for Featherstone's side given all the fanfare and furore surrounding Smith's takeover, it does at least keep their hopes of mounting a late play-off push alive.
In the end, a goalless draw in Northamptonshire shouldn't have come as a great surprise given that Pools have failed to score in nine of their 29 National League matches this term while Brackley are the division's second-lowest scorers.
Yet both sides had chances to win the game, with Saints goalkeeper Cameron Gregory doing superbly to turn Adam Campbell's well-struck free-kick, which looked destined for the top corner, round the post while both Luke Charman and Maxim Kouogun had goals ruled out for marginal offsides. At the other end, veteran striker Danny Newton, still searching for his first league goal of the campaign, crashed an effort against the woodwork in the opening stages while Nick Hayes made a sharp reflex save to preserve his clean sheet in added time.
So, while a point at St James' Park was by no means the worst result - Gavin Cowan's side, who are renowned for this formidable home form, have already beaten title-chasers Rochdale and Forest Green Rovers in Northamptonshire this term - it leaves Pools with plenty of work to do to give themselves a realistic chance of sneaking into the top seven. Although Southend slipped up against strugglers Boston, the Shrimpers are still two points clear of Pools with three games in hand while Halifax, who leapfrogged the Essex outfit into seventh place on Saturday, are in fine form and have won all of their last four matches.
"After the Woking game, if you'd have said we would get seven points from the following three matches, then I'd absolutely have taken it," Featherstone told BBC Radio Tees Sport.
"We tried - we fell short a little bit in front of goal today (Saturday), but we tried.
"It's been a demanding week for a small group of players to go again and again and again.
"We looked a little bit tired at times but, like I say, we'd have taken seven points out of nine after the Woking game."