Bullock in bother

As the visitors celebrated a point with an injury-time penalty, Bullock goaded Hartlepool fans in the Town End - and despite being pulled away by an assistant referee and stewards, he continued his actions long after the final whistle.

Pool secretary Maureen Smith and safety officer Maurice Russell both made protests to referee Tony Leake after the game and the official will report the incident in his match report. It will be up to League officials if any further action is taken.

Pool manager Chris Turner described Bullock's actions as "unprofessional" and added: "It is up to the referee to police the matter, but what the keeper showed was not the actions of a professional footballer to me. I have never seen anything like it in 25 years in football. Apart from trying to incite the crowd, it was unprofessional.''

Macclesfield manager Peter Davenport defended his player, claiming he was applauding the crowd as he left the field.

Pool mascot, H'Angus the Monkey, was later praised by the referee's assistant for helping to defuse the situation as the crowd's anger rose.

Pool are facing an FA inquiry into events at last season's play off game with Darlington at Victoria Park when Quakers' manager David Hodgson claimed he was struck by a 50p coin thrown by the Pool crowd and striker Marco Gabbiadini was punched by a fan as he left the field following the 2-0 win and are likely to make their own protestations to League officials this morning.

Pool, meanwhile, last night laughed off reports they had lodged a £300,000 bid for Macclesfield's Richie Barker.

Rotherham boss Ronnie Moore claimed: "We asked about him, but I couldn't believe it when Macclesfield quoted us £300,000. they said that is what Hartlepool had already offered.''

Pool boss Chris Turner is an admirer of the hit-man and it is believed that when asking about his availability last season was quoted £300,000 - and that was as far at his interest went