John Askey left angered by Hartlepool United's opening day defeat at Barnet

Hartlepool suffered a nightmare return to the National League as they began the season with a defeat against Barnet having found themselves three goals down midway through the second half.

Adebola Oluwo was awarded the opening goal of the game when he was able to turn in from close range in the first half before former Hartlepool striker Nicke Kabamba headed in a dubious second soon after the restart – the referee’s assistant flagging to signal Kabamba’s header had crossed the line despite a number of Pools protests.

Things got worse for Pools less than 10 minutes later as Danny Collinge – who had previously assisted Kabamba – got in on the act when heading in a third.

And it was at that stage Askey was left questioning some of his players having suggested some threw in the towel with the game all but gone before substitute Jake Hastie and Josh Umerah set things up for a dramatic finish when notching for Pools in the closing stages.

Hastie finished well when capitalising on a defensive clearance before then missing a penalty in stoppage time only for Umerah to convert the rebound.

And while Askey conceded some of his players did keep going, the Hartlepool boss could not hide his anger following an opening day defeat.

"I thought we were poor, for whatever reason,” said Askey.

"We just didn’t move the ball quickly enough, we had too many touches on the ball – especially at the back – which allowed them to settle themselves and it wasn’t what we were doing in pre-season, that’s why I said pre-season means nothing.

"You find out more today than over the couple of games we played in pre-season.

"The one time we got the ball forward quickly we scored, so we’ve got to learn from that. But at the moment I’m not too happy.

"I think one or two kept going, but there’s one or two who didn’t. There’s one or two who threw the towel in and that’s where it tells us about their mentality.

"There’s a lot to improve on and there were one or two stern words to the players.”

Askey admits his players will have to adjust to life back in the National League quickly if they are to enjoy a positive season, with the Pools boss hoping defeat at the Hive will serve as a reality check to his squad.

"Hopefully it’s a reality check and they realise that you’re not just going to turn up and roll teams over,” he said.

"First of all you’ve got to compete and work hard and win second balls.

"You won’t always play well. So when you don’t play well you’ve got to do the horrible stuff.

"We got suckered in, especially the lads at the back just passing the ball with no pace and going nowhere. That’s where you’ve got to get teams turned early and go and play from there, and then once you’ve got them turned a few times then you create space in midfield.

"But it’s all things we’ve talked about and it’s all things they should know.”