Keith Curle praises Hartlepool United midfielder after ex-Bradford City man scores wonder goal to seal crucial victory at Rochdale

Cooke scored his first league goal for the club when taking aim from 25-yards out with 10 minutes remaining at the Crown Oil Arena to find the top corner of Richard O’Donnell’s goal and hand Hartlepool what could be a hugely significant win at the bottom of League Two.

Pools had taken a first half lead after Cooke turned provider to pick out Rollin Menayese for the second straight game with the Walsall loanee powering a header in to give Curle’s men what was a deserved lead at the break.

Credit to the home side, however, as Jim Bentley got Rochdale firing after half-time and they were rewarded when Ian Henderson cleverly equalised with a back-heeled attempt to beat Ben Killip at his near post.

But instead of rolling over at that stage, with Rochdale in the ascendancy, Pools rolled up their sleeves and regained the initiative as Cooke curled in a sublime free kick to send the travelling Hartlepool supporters into a frenzy.

“Callum has got that ability. It’s not something that he doesn’t work at,” said Curle.

“You’ll see him after training, he’s got a mental picture of what he wants to do. He can put the ball where he wants to put it. That’s not a fluke, that’s something that he actually works on.”

He added to The Mail: “I think there’s more to come from Callum. I genuinely think, in general play, I can get him into better goal scoring opportunities further up the pitch and that is something we’re working on and something we’re identifying.

“He’s had a slight change of position as well, rather than playing as a 10, we’re trying to get him playing in a wider area that will go and give him more freedom to go and operate as a 10 when it’s on.”

Cooke’s winner helped secure back-to-back victories for Hartlepool which sees them climb above Rochdale in the league table and move three points clear of the bottom two.