Hartlepool United manager Dave Challinor - why Chesterfield got me "fuming" on Tuesday night

Hartlepool United boss, David Challinor, pictured right, on the touchline next to Chesterfield manager John Sheridan on Tuesday night. | JPIMedia

Hartlepool United boss Dave Challinor says Chesterfield’s goal in first-half stoppage time left him “fuming”.

The visitors to the Proact on Tuesday night were heading for a two-goal lead at the break and in truth it could have been a lot more.

But Peter Kioso’s own goal during one minute of first-half injury-time gave the Spireites an undeserved lifeline.

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Despite the set-back, Challinor’s men quickly restored their lead on 48 minutes and added two more for a convincing 5-1 win.

“I was fuming at half-time because we’d dominated the game for 45 minutes and switched off for a minute and it’s happened too many times this season,” Challinor said.

“The players got it a little bit at half-time and I challenged them with a warning that if we didn’t win the game then there’d be trouble.

“I went in at the end and said, ‘well that showed me!’ They reacted brilliantly, sometimes you have to make a decision as to whether you emphasise the positives because there were so many in the first half, we won the game in the first half but let them back in it so we had to go and win the game again and we did that unbelievably well.”

He added: “To score five away from home is amazing, it’s only three points though so we stay grounded and we move on but I think we can get much better.”