John Askey shares relief after 'desperate' Hartlepool United secure crucial win over Eastleigh

Despite a loss of form, Hartlepool controlled proceedings throughout against Eastleigh as they moved back into the top seven of the National League table at the expense of their opponents.

Tom Crawford got Askey’s side off to a fast start with a well-taken finish from the edge of the area before Hartlepool's mentality was tested once again after Chris Maguire scored a stunning free kick to equalise on his return to the club where he was unable to register a single appearance.

Maguire, in good faith, antagonised supporters with his celebration but it was Hartlepool who would have the last laugh as a double from Emmanuel Dieseruvwe ensured a first three points since the win over Dagenham & Redbridge.

Dieseruvwe headed in from Luke Hendrie’s cross 10 minutes after the restart before diverting Joe Grey’s cross home nine minutes later to seal an impressive victory for Askey’s side – a one which the Pools boss admits they were in urgent need of.

"We were desperate for it,” he told BBC Radio Tees.

"The good thing is the crowd never ever got on our backs. They were with us right from the first whistle and there’s not many football clubs do that when you've been losing, so we appreciate that.

"We won’t get carried away by one result but I think it was more the manner in which we played that was the pleasing thing.

"It’s been coming,” he added.

"We were bitterly disappointed on Wednesday because I thought we deserved the three points, so it was one of those games where we had to win.

"We were under a lot of pressure to win the game and for the players to play the football they did; full credit to them.

"It’s not easy when you haven’t won games. I said they just have to replicate what they did [against Boreham Wood] and hopefully we’ll get the rub of the green, which when that free kick went in you start to wonder.

"But we controlled the game pretty much from start to finish.”