Keith Curle remains grounded as Hartlepool United end Saturday home hoodoo against Grimsby Town

Pools’ comeback success over the Mariners was the first time they have earned three points on a Saturday afternoon on home soil since the 3-2 win over Harrogate Town 53 weeks ago. On that day in 2021, Pools came from behind in stunning style, scoring three times in seven second half minutes, to overcome a 2-0 deficit at half-time. And while their comeback against Grimsby was not quite as impressive as that over Harrogate, it was no less dramatic and no less significant.

Pools were behind thanks to a wonderful effort from the returning Gavan Holohan and looked as though they would fall to another defeat until Alex Lacey’s equaliser 12 minutes from time. Lacey headed home from David Ferguson’s cross before Ferguson would send another excellent ball into the box four minutes later in which a combination of Josh Umerah and Mariners defender Niall Maher turned into the far corner to hand Pools a priceless victory.

But while their 2-1 success removes the Saturday hoodoo, Curle is already focusing on where the next win will come from for his side.

“I said a couple of weeks ago that we need to go on a journey and getting that win, getting a positive result, doesn’t mean the wheels are moving. That just means that the engine is started,” Curle told The Mail.

“If you get the next win, then the wheels start moving forward.”

And Curle was delighted his side were able to grind out a win after answering a potential knockout blow following Holohan’s stunning opener.

“We take the win. There’s going to be twists and turns in every game. There’s things we could have done better and there’s things that they’ll look back on and think that they could have done better as well,” said Curle.

“But ultimately we had to grind it out. We got tested. We got hit by a fantastic finish which rocked us, but it didn’t knock us out.”