'Sexy mood' - Buoyant Keith Curle gives hilarious admission following Hartlepool United's comeback win over Grimsby Town

Pools scored twice in the space of four minutes late in the game to cancel out Gavan Holohan’s wonderful opener to record their second win of the season. Holohan, seemingly inevitably, fired Grimsby in front with a stunning strike inside the opening 10 minutes as the Mariners looked to inflict yet more misery on Pools.

But having hung in the game, Curle saw his side score twice in the final 12 minutes, first through Alex Lacey as he headed David Ferguson’s cross beyond Max Crocombe and then Josh Umerah, who helped on another Ferguson cross with Grimsby defender Niall Maher also involved, as Pools move off the foot of the table.

It was the first time Pools have won in the league on home soil on a Saturday afternoon since October 2021, over a year ago, when coming from behind to beat Harrogate Town and Curle admitted post-match Hartlepool’s win over Grimsby was the second of three requirements when waking up on Saturday morning.

“I woke up this morning and I had three requirements: us to win, Man City to win and my missus to be in a sexy mood on a Saturday night,” said Curle.

“So I’ve got two out of three so far and now I’ve got a two hour drive home. So it would be nice to get a hat-trick.”

But in the midst of a jovial mood, Curle heaped praise on his side for finding a way back into the game having been hit with an early blow through Holohan while also praising the Suit Direct Stadium faithful for their support in helping Pools get over the line.

“We take the positives out of everything. Even in defeat I still try and find the positives. There’s negatives within that game, but there’s massive positives that we need to work on.” Curle told The Mail.

“We need to get more people in the box and we need to get better quality into the box and get more people arriving. Too many times today we got counter-attacked by a lack of quality in the final third.

“I said last week we need to find another yard in the box and another yard in our own box. That still hasn't changed.

“That yard isn’t always physical, sometimes it’s mentally. We go 2-1 up and we find that extra yard. What we need to work on is finding that extra yard at 0-0.”

The interim boss added: “The supporters at this football club have got to buckle in because it’s going to be a rollercoaster. There’s going to be some bumpy times, there’ll be twists and turns.

“The supporters, I’ve got to say, played their part massively. The reception the players got at the end and myself and the staff [was excellent]. The support that you get at the end of a game when they’ve seen their team with effort, application and desire is priceless.”