‘It had a play-off feel’ – Hartlepool United manager Dave Challinor delighted with 'cagey' 1-0 win over Sutton United to return to second

Pools returned to second in the National League table with Rhys Oates’ header helping them to a 1-0 win over their promotion challenging rivals.

It’s a fifth straight win for Pools at Victoria Park and undoubtedly the sweetest so far for the Pools boss.

“I’m delighted to win, delighted to win a really tight game, a game that had the feel of a play-off game about it,” Challinor said.

“Sutton are a really good side who are where they are on merit. We knew how they'd play, they're a threat on the counter and we had to deal with their front four.

"Even when we played in way that we didn't want to play, we still did well. A criticism of my teams is that we don't win enough games like that where it’s tight and cagey but we did today.

“Oatesy and Luke [Armstrong] were a massive threat throughout and go away probably feeling as though they should have scored more but we managed the game really well and put our bodies on the line to get three points.

"It’s a big win against a direct opponent who we jump above now. We needed to bounce back from last weekend so to get three points over such a good team is a massive plus.

“But we move on quickly, February is a busy month for us so hopefully I’m stood here on Tuesday night saying the same sort of thing after Halifax.”

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