Hartlepool United manager Dave Challinor reflects on key penalty decision in goalless draw at Wrexham

Pools had the majority of the chances in the game with the hosts Wrexham failing to register a single shot on target over the 90-minutes.

But the final score is all that mattered as the match ended 0-0 and the points were shared, leaving Pools third in the table.

Hartlepool have now won just one of their last eight matches on the road, but Challinor felt this one should have gone differently.

“It’s a frustrating one,” he admitted.

“There are always moments in games that will decide the outcome and almost all of them fell on our side tonight and we didn’t take them.

"When you’ve not had a great run away from home, when you do really, really deserve to win a game, it would have been good to make that moment one that got us three points but it wasn’t to be.

"I’ll always get emotional, as much as I can’t impact things massively from the sidelines, I’m kicking and heading every ball and want the players to do well.

“They’ve done great for us tonight and just not got what they deserved.”

A key moment in the game came 13-minutes from time as Wrexham’s Luke Young fouled Rhys Oates right on the edge of the penalty area.

Referee Jacob Miles made the decision to award a free-kick to Pools instead of a spot kick – a decision Challinor felt was harsh and ultimately incorrect.

“We’re victims of a decision that could go either way but we created good opportunities away from home against a team who are in and around it we’re going home disappointed with a point," he added.

“You could understand if 6,000 fans are in at one end, the easiest thing to do would be not to give a penalty. It’s not miles in the box, the referee said it’s on the line but if that’s the case then it’s a penalty. You get those decisions and unfortunately it didn’t go in our favour tonight.”

A message from the Football Clubs Editor

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Hartlepool United coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription to our new sports-only package here.

We’ve launched a new transfer window special offer for readers to get 20% off our subscription package.

Use the promo code TRANSFER20 to sign up here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor