Graeme Lee admits the timing of Hartlepool United's goal against Tranmere Rovers was 'massive' as Pools earned third straight win

Pools took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Tranmere captain Peter Clarke glanced David Ferguson’s teasing freekick beyond his goalkeeper Ross Doohan for what would end up being the only goal of the game as Lee’s side sealed a third straight win in League Two.

And the Pools boss believes the goal came at the opportune moment for his side.

“We got the goal just before half-time which was massive,” said Lee.

“Right on half-time is massive because teams go straight back at you, there’s a reaction. So we killed that reaction.

“But they came out firing, the intensity lifted and we had to deal with that in the first five or 10 minutes of the half and they pinned us back a bit.

“But we grew back into the game again and we had good chances. The lads fought for each other. There were some massive performances all around the pitch.”

Pools have now moved onto 40 points for the season and have increased the distance between themselves and the bottom two in the division thanks to a perfect week with a maximum nine points from nine.

And Lee believes his side are continuing to carry the momentum generated from their FA Cup adventure at Crystal Palace where the players and staff shared a memorable moment with supporters at Selhurst Park.

“It’s good. I’ve said before, the moment after the Crystal Palace game in the stadium, the atmosphere with how the fans and the players were, it was special and it was massively important we used that and went forward with it,” said Lee.

“The Barrow game was massive in that, it really was vital we put a performance on that backed up that weekend and we did.

“Then that’s gone on to Crawley and then again tonight.

“You’re going up against second in the table who will come at you no matter what and we dealt with it, we nullified a lot of their threats.

“I’m one happy man. It’s not all about the pretty side of the game, it's how you can grind and fight for each other and we did that today.”

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