Hartlepool United head coach Anthony Limbrick hailed the character of his side after Pools left it late to beat relegated Ebbsfleet 3-2 despite an underwhelming performance.

It was certainly not a vintage display - and a far cry from their last home game, when Pools dispatched a resurgent Boston 4-1. While there might have been a lack of quality, Pools dug their heels in and stuck to their task, securing a third successive win for the first time since the beginning of last season when Sam Folarin headed home a 94th minute winner.

The odds were stacked against embattled Ebbsfleet ahead of kick-off. The Fleet arrived at the Prestige Group Stadium having failed to win any of their 20 away games this season, losing 14 of those. Josh Wright's side had endured a hugely dispiriting campaign and were relegated last month. To make matters worse, Ebbsfleet were beaten in the final of the Kent Senior Cup in midweek, suffering a series of injuries in the process. The Fleet were only able to name five substitutes ahead of the long trip to the North East, including back-up goalkeeper Felix Goddard and Wright himself, who retired from playing in December. Yet there have been signs of improvement since Wright replaced Harry Watling and the Fleet produced a spirit performance and were unfortunate to come away empty-handed.

Although Joe Grey tested Mark Cousins early on, it took Pools a long time to get going and required a moment of magic from Reyes Cleary in the 29th minute to fire them in front. Although not quite at his blistering best, the West Brom loanee was a threat throughout and opened the scoring in impressive fashion, curling a sumptuous strike beyond Cousins from the edge of the box, his fourth goal in five games. The visitors hit back six minutes into the second half through Maxx Manktelow, who rifled in his first senior goal after Pools failed to deal with a corner. Pools restored their lead three minutes later when Mani Dieseruvwe glanced home Nathan Sheron's cross but the hosts were punished for some ponderous defending when substitute Callum Harriott's through ball unlocked the defence and Aaron Cosgrave stole in, rounded the onrushing Adam Smith and rolled the ball into an empty net 17 minutes from time, his third goal in as many games.

Following a difficult start to his tenure, Limbrick has overseen a run of five games unbeaten, including three successive wins. Picture by Frank Reid.

placeholder image — Following a difficult start to his tenure, Limbrick has overseen a run of five games unbeaten, including three successive wins. Picture by Frank Reid.

Pools huffed and puffed but a resolute Ebbsfleet held firm as the home crowd grew restless, with Mark Cousins saving well from Sam Folarin. The former Harrogate man was not to be denied a second time, however, and scored the winner in the fourth minute of seven added after Reyes Cleary's cross rebounded into his path. The goal came as a considerable relief to both Pools and Folarin, who has endured a frustrating start to life in the North East and has found himself on the fringes of the side.

Pools were a little fortunate that Ebbsfleet weren't awarded a penalty in the second half and the Kent side will make the long trip home feeling hard done by after Folarin's late winner denied them a point that they probably deserved. While it will not be a game that will live too long in the memory of Pools fans, it felt like one Limbrick's side needed to win given Ebbsfeleet's miserable record on their travels this season. Even if the performance left a lot to be desired, Pools were a threat throughout and kept going until the end, extending their unbeaten run to five matches and moving up into the top half of the National League table, just six points adrift of the play-off places.

"It's great to win three games, we hadn't done that this season before," Limbrick told BBC Radio Tees Sport.

"It shows where the team and the squad are at the moment, which is great. In those three games, there's been three totally different performances. If we're talking about the performance, I didn't think we performed well today, at all. I was disappointed with many facets of the game - in possession, out of possession. It was actually nice to win a game having not, maybe, deserved to win it. That's something I haven't seen since I was here. Credit to the players, they found a way to get the job done.

"In terms of the performance, we've lost and drawn many other games playing a lot better than we did today. However, it's the second home win in a row and we want to make the fans happy; they were great and they pushed us to the end. I'm sure it was probably a hard watch at times, it was for us. The players never gave up and I think that's really important, so huge credit to them."