Hartlepool United manager Dave Challinor reflects on 2-2 draw at Ebbsfleet United and what went wrong

A Gavan Holohan brace had Pools 2-0 up and cruising even before The Fleet were reduced to 10-men following Josh Umerah’s straight red card on the stroke of half-time.

The result never looked in doubt until Myles Weston burst through on goal to make it 2-1 and suddenly the hosts had a bit of momentum. Weston then levelled the scoreline with a free-kick 18-minutes from time to snatch an unlikely point for the National League strugglers.

“It’s one of those things, we have a clear understanding and mindset about what we’re doing at the start of the game,” Challinor said following the match.

“It showed today and a little bit on Tuesday about how we manage games when we’re in front.

“What do we become, do we go gung-ho and try and get the third goal or do we become safe?

“It’s difficult and it’s something we need to work on in training because there’s going to be a tendency from a players perspective, and I’ve been there myself, to go we’re 2-0 up here, I’ll just move gradually back towards my goal and I won’t feel under any pressure but that's not the case.

“I can be critical, I can be annoyed and angry, all those things but I am disappointed for the players because I think we’ve done more than enough to win that game.

“If you’re going to be successful at any level you need to be ruthless. The game could have been won in the first half and should have been won in the first ten minutes of the second.

“At half-time, we spoke about being positive and we were positive for the first ten, fifteen minutes of the second half but then we became a little bit safe.

“They got some momentum, the crowd got back in the game and they put us on the back foot.

“After that we were very naive in terms of our defending and our decision-making.

“We’re disappointed, but we take the positives, work on the negatives and look to put things right next weekend.”