THE traditional flurry of five-past three Victoria Park stragglers are advised to be in the ground for 3pm prompt this afternoon as sharp-shooter Kevin Henderson aims to go one better.

Hartlepool United entertain Cheltenham at Victoria Park looking to build on Saturday's 1-1 draw at Exeter, but the Pool front-man is gunning for another first-minute goal.

So if a last pre-match pint at 2.55 is the norm, try and make it a bit earlier today.

After scoring with 60 seconds on the clock against Chesterfield last Saturday, the front-runner went one better - or 20 seconds better to be precise as he put Pool in front at St James Park.

But just like seven days earlier, Pool couldn't hold onto the lead, although the point made it four points from two games on the road this season.

This time, however, Chris Turner's side could have been picking up three points against a team who looked for the best part like a bunch of players thrown together following a massive summer recruitment drive by manager Noel Blake.

It's a long way back from Exeter, but the only thought on the team bus trundling up the M5 should have been how the game wasn't won.

But there should be no last-minute dashes for the turnstiles this afternoon to ensure no-one misses out and Henderson admitted: "I'm going for a hat-trick. I don't think I can get any quicker now, but I was fastest in the county last week and again this time.

"I think we were a bit disappointed in the end because we didn't play very well in the first half, but in the second half we opened them up - especially after I went off because I had tired the defenders out!" he joked.

Christian Roberts salvaged a point for Exeter, but for the remaining 13 minutes if any team were going to win it was Turner's side.

The introduction of Sam Shilton on the left flank was the catalyst for all-out attack as he mesmerised full back Neil Whitworth. Unfortunately, no-one was on hand to take advantage of his domination and chance after chance went begging.

"Any point away from home is a good point,'' admitted Turner. "But Martin Hollund never had a save to make and we had enough chances to win.

"The threat is that when they equalised, we were in danger of losing everything we had. We were away and as an away team you expect to be under some pressure.''

But the majority of the game was a scrappy affair and Turner confessed: "I just get a little disappointed with certain players because we didn't help ourselves. There wasn't enough quality for the front players, but in the last 15 minutes we showed what we can do.

"Sam Shilton did well and we were a fraction off just getting the winning goal more than once.

"What we needed was someone to come from midfield and get there, but Tommy Miller couldn't be there because he had another job to do.''

Henderson gave Pool a dream start, turning in after Tony Lormor flicked on. That strike stunned and subdued the home support - who perhaps were already a tad embarrassed at the launch of Exeter's waif-like gladiator mascot - and the rest of the half was more akin to a pre-season friendly.

The most prominent thing about the home side was the booming voice of boss Blake.

Never one to shirk a challenge as a player, he seems determined to drive his side to better things. But after recruiting a new side over the summer, he still has some work to do to blend his 14 new players into a team of winners.

Pool did have one first-half let-off when Alex Inglethorpe tamely sent a penalty wide after Mark Robinson lunged in on Steve Flack, but Exeter's biggest consolation at the break was that they couldn't play any worse in the second half - and so it proved.

They even managed to arouse the comatosed crowd and levelled when substitute Roberts picked up Andy Roscoe's deep free kick, nutmegged new boy Tim Sperrevik and lashed across Hollund into the far corner of the net through a pack of players.

Cue a wave of Pool attacks, but with no final touch.

Tony Lormor, twice, Sperrevik and Barry Ferguson went agonisingly close, but the best opening came when Stephenson's peach of a ball flew across the six-yard box with a lack of yellow shirts in place to get the vital touch.

Sperrevik has the makings of a centre forward, but realistic Turner knows there is some work to be done before he is ready for a start.

"We pushed Stephenson forward more and Tommy Miller went man-to-man on Inglethorpe and we created some good chances,'' admitted Turner. "But it's not easy to play against a team that is more bothered about hitting the ball long from back to front.

"We should have won it, but I've said before that we are going away from home and looking to win games and that is a sign of how far we have come on.

"We have picked up four points from two away games and that is a good start.