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It’s quick, it’s decisive and rarely gives the opposition an opportunity to adjust and, when done in the final moments of a game as seen by Hartlepool United at the weekend, it can prove to be a match-winner.

At 15 seconds from the edge of their own area to the back of Gateshead’s net it may not have been the swiftest counter-attack on record, but it was certainly just as potent with three players and just three passes involved for John Askey’s side to slice through Gateshead.

Having been reduced to 10 men early in the second half when Josh Umerah was shown a straight red card, Askey had to readjust as Hartlepool were forced to soak up plenty of pressure from Gateshead.

When the Heed levelled little over 10 minutes later you would have been forgiven for thinking Hartlepool’s chances of taking all three points were slim.

But despite how deep Askey’s side retreated, Pools felt pretty comfortable in keeping Gateshead at arm's length, despite their possession around the edge of the area.

The more possession Gateshead enjoyed, the more risks they were willing to take when it came to throwing bodies further forward.

That left a classic counter-attack situation whereby if Hartlepool were able to win possession quickly enough, they then had players capable of breaking away to catch Mike Williamson’s men out – and that’s exactly what happened.

Hartlepool United scored a late winner against Gateshead at the Suit Direct Stadium.

Gateshead defender Robbie Tinkler suggested in the aftermath of the game that going down to 10 men may have benefited Hartlepool, and he might have been onto something given how well organised they were.

With Umerah off, it left Emmanuel Dieseruvwe as the lone striker with Askey reverting to a 5-3-1 as wing-backs Charlie Seaman and David Ferguson tucked back into full-back along with centre-back trio Dan Dodds, Emmanuel Onariase and Alex Lacey.

Pools had been quite rigid throughout the first half and invited pressure with how deep they sat off Gateshead as Tom Crawford and Callum Cooke anchored things in midfield.

But once down to 10 men, and particularly in the closing stages, as seen in figure 1, Crawford and Cooke almost operated as fourth and fifth centre-backs with Anthony Mancini just in front of them.

Figure 1 shows how deep Hartlepool United were having to deal with 10 men against Gateshead in the closing stages of the game.

As the ball was played out to the left for Oli Thompson, Crawford did then drop in as a centre-back as both Seaman and Dodds moved out to close down the threat out wide.

Dodds and Seaman swapped roles after Thompson found Billy Chadwick, who brought Dodds out of his right centre-back role as he twisted and turned, looking for an opening.

Chadwick did well to escape Dodds and then looked for Regan Booty, who had just peeled off the back of Crawford into the half-space between him and Onariase, but the two were on different wavelengths as the pass was aimed at Booty’s standing position as opposed to where he looked to make a late run into the box.

Crawford, however, as seen in figure 2, was alive to the situation and on his toes, allowing him to step in and take possession of the ball for Hartlepool.

Figure 2 shows how Hartlepool United shuffle across defensively to deal with Gateshead's attack as Tom Crawford, acting as an additional centre-back, intercepts Billy Chadwick to start the counter-attack.

What’s significant is as soon as Crawford won back possession, the immediate shift in focus from Dieseruvwe, Cooke, Mancini and Ferguson who all turned and began driving towards the Gateshead goal, as shown in figure 3, despite the game being in the 90th minute.

By this point Hartlepool had contested 35 minutes with 10 men. The shout may have been for them to head towards the corner and take their point, but Pools had other ideas.

Crawford took one touch to control, one touch to advance into the space in front of him and then a third touch to release Dieseruvwe who had moved off the shoulder of Kenton Richardson.

The key takeaways from Hartlepool's late success over Gateshead

Again, Dieseruvwe may have headed to the corner, having created that space, but as soon as he shaped his body, he squared Richardson up with intent to drive at goal.

To his left, Mancini’s run had occupied Louis Storey and Tinkler, whilst Cooke was charging forward further over on the left (figure 4).

Figure 3 shows how Tom Crawford started Hartlepool United's counter-attack with a pass into Emmanuel Dieseruvwe who had willing runners in Anthony Mancini and Callum Cooke.

That’s where Dieseruvwe played it as he lifted a delicate ball over the defence which, perhaps, sent Cooke a little wider than he would have liked.

Cooke at this point, with Gateshead having scrambled five players back, could have done what Dieseruvwe refused and taken it into the left corner flag, but he was of a similar mindset as his team-mate as he quickly squared Jordan Hunter up and breezed by him with ease into the area.

Dieseruvwe had not stopped to admire his pass, however, and continued his run into the area, timing his run across Richardson to perfection (figure 4) as Cooke drilled a low ball into the six-yard box where the striker had already shown how clinical he could be in the first half.

It was a brilliant counter-attack and capped a gripping afternoon at the Suit Direct Stadium as Pools claimed their first three points of the season.

We’ve seen many of the world’s best teams utilise counter-attacks to their advantage as they surge from one end of the field to the other to turn games on their head.

But no matter what level, counter-attacking is a ruthless art in football, and when executed well it can be deadly.

Hartlepool executed this one down to a T.

How Hartlepool United sealed Gateshead win with three-pass counter-attack