Chesterfield 1 Hartlepool United 1

RICHARD MONEY was left a frustrated figure after Hartlepool United’s early dominance was not fully rewarded in a 1-1 draw at Chesterfield.

Pools dominated the first half of their final game of 2018, but despite creating a host of chances, Luke James’ stoppage-time drive was all they had to show for their superiority.

They were still the better side for most of the second half at the Proact Stadium, but Bradley Barry claimed a Chesterfield equaliser with 15 minutes left to rob Pools of two precious points.

Money said: “I think we should have been out of sight really. It’s about trying to get the best out of the players that we’ve got, but also trying to develop an identity and a way we want to play.

“Certainly, in the first half, we saw an identity and there was a lot of quality in that first half, quality I would suggest belonging to a higher level than where we’re at.

“Luke’s work rate was excellent, he looked dangerous all afternoon and I thought he richly deserved that goal. We just needed to get more than one goal, we deserved more than one I think.

“I think you have to give them credit for pushing us back in the last half an hour and in those moments you have to stand up and make sure you don’t concede, and unfortunately on one occasion we weren’t able to do that.

“This league tests you in all sorts of different ways and having not scored the second goal or even more, then you’re going to have to deal with a lot of pressure.”

Josh Hawkes saw an early effort saved by Callum Burton, before drilling over the bar after he was set up by Niko Muir.

Carl Magnay went close from close range, but just as it looked as though Pools would be heading into the interval unrewarded, James broke the deadlock. Liam Noble slipped the striker through the middle, and he calmly slotted home.

Muir failed to make the most of an opportunity to double Pools’ lead in the second half, and Chesterfield struck in the 75th minute. Alfie Beestin kept a cross alive in the Pools area, and full-back Barry was able to drive home from close range.