The form guide suggested Pools might be in for a long afternoon and the Pilgrims arrived at the Prestige Group Stadium on a run of five consecutive away wins, but the hosts dominated the majority of the contest to ease their growing relegation fears. It was an important win for all sorts of reasons and one that meant a lot to head coach Anthony Limbrick, who has been under pressure following a challenging start to life in the dugout while also being made to contend with a host of questions about off-field uncertainty after the sudden resignation of chairman Raj Singh last week.
For 90 minutes at least, Pools put some of their worries aside with a dominant performance that all but secures their National League status for another season. The hosts made the perfect start and went in front after just four minutes when Gary Madine ended a run of seven games without a goal but were pegged back in the 20th minute when former Darlington frontman Jacob Hazel scored for the eighth time in 13 matches. Mani Dieseruvwe fired Pools back into the lead four minutes later, his 14th goal of the campaign, before second half strikes from Reyes Cleary, who was unplayable at times, and the impressive Jamie Miley made sure of the result. Here's a look at how the Pools players rated.
13. Luke Charman: 6
Put himself about well after replacing Reyes Cleary, although he didn't see as much of the ball as he might have liked. Photo: Frank Reid
14. Joe Grey: 7
Looked lively after coming on and produced a superb ball for Mani Dieseruvwe in the lead-up to the home side's fourth goal. Photo: Frank Reid