Hartlepool United manager Dave Challinor reflects on 'successful' week following win at Dagenham & Redbridge and draw at Stockport County

Hartlepool United manager Dave Challinor targeted at least four points from the away trips to Dagenham & Redbridge and Stockport County, and that’s exactly what he got.
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After beating Dagenham 1-0 at the Chigwell Construction Stadium on Tuesday night, Pools went into Saturday’s game at Stockport knowing that a win would extend their lead on The Hatters in the National League table to 12 points.

As it turned out, Hartlepool had to settle for a point as Paddy Madden’s late strike cancelled out Gavan Holohan’s header as the game finished 1-1.

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Hartlepool manager, Dave Challinor  (Credit: Mark Fletcher | MI News)Hartlepool manager, Dave Challinor  (Credit: Mark Fletcher | MI News)
Hartlepool manager, Dave Challinor (Credit: Mark Fletcher | MI News)
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On paper, it’s a good point away to a play-off rival backing up a solid midweek win. But in reality, Challinor couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed with the manner of Saturday’s draw at Edgeley Park.

"I probably will count it [as a successful week] come Monday because there’s always going to be a tinge of disappointment when you go in front and concede an equaliser in the manner we did inside the final 15-minutes,” Challinor told The Mail.

“We were dealing well with what they were throwing at us prior to that so that’s disappointing but that’s me being very critical and disappointed.

"A point in the grand scheme of things, backing up a 1-0 win at Dagenham on Tuesday and keeping this run we’re on going is a big plus.”

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Before the game, Challinor challenged his players to approach it with a play-off mentality to stress the importance of avoiding defeat at this crucial stage of the season.

“It felt like [a play-off game] a little bit,” added the Pools boss.

“We adapted to what they did in terms of our shape and I thought we did well out of possession.

“We saw areas in the first half where we felt we could get some joy and that came to fruition in the second half with the goal.”

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"We could have done that a little bit more and our quality towards the top end of the pitch needed to be better.

"It was always going to be a tough game decided by fine margins and that proved to be the case.”

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