Hartlepool United 2, Grimsby Town 0.

HARTLEPOOL United's players yesterday comfortably cemented their place in the record books.

The 2-0 win over Grimsby Town at Victoria Park equalled the club record of seven successive victories, the last six of which have been achieved without conceding a goal - a new milestone in itself.

Pools were at ease in seeing off the hapless Mariners and they have now gone 592 minutes - almost ten hours of football - without conceding a goal.

A triumph over Peterborough on Saturday would set another club record, but Pools have some way to go to equal their manager's best run of wins. As Bristol City boss in 2004, he oversaw 11 successive victories.

"You can see the willingness in the team to defend,'' said Wilson. "But what went in our favour was that we didn't get frustrated.

"It was hard to play against Grimsby - they came to try and catch us on the break. It would have been easy for everyone to get frustrated and bogged down, but no-one did - players or the crowd.

"Our first goal came from a corner and that opened it up a bit. We were quite comfortable overall and, I have to say, the crowd was positive in its backing and that makes a big difference.

"We put a lot of work in and I think the crowd could see what the opposition were trying to do to us.''

He added: "We are on a great run and getting the rewards for the hard work. We played some excellent football.

"No-one will get carried away. We are going well but have a long way to go.''

Pools are now in fifth spot amid a remarkable transformation. After winning at Accrington - the first triumph of this run - they were 13th, four points behind Darlington and eight points off sixth-placed Notts County.

Now they are seven points ahead of eight-placed County and 11 in front of 15th-placed Quakers.

Grimsby didn't arrive at Victoria Park with the intention of winning the game, it was more a case of keeping Pools out.

Mariners' boss Alan Buckley had watched Pools' last home game, a 1-0 win over Rochdale, and his orders were to sit deep and let Pools try and work their way through. With at least nine men behind the ball, it was trying for Pools.

It took until the 20-minute mark before the game saw any real goalmouth action.

When right back Gary Croft lost possession, Andy Monkhouse was given plenty of time to decide on his options and he rifled over from 20 yards.

Monkhouse was not expected to play. His month on loan from Swindon expired after Saturday's win at Bury and he was set to line-up at the County Ground against Wycombe.

Instead, Pools secured his services on an emergency loan - "a cloak and dagger deal,'' said Wilson - and he is able to play the next two games. There's every chance Pools will try and sign him permanently next month.

Former Middlesbrough and Darlington winger Craig Hignett could also be among Wilson's January recruits, after spending time training with the squad.

The visitors should have gone in front on 28 minutes. A free-kick from the right was headed across goal by Justin Whittle and Gary Harkins prodded his shot too close to Dimi Konstantopoulos from an inviting spot.

Pools suffered a blow on 33 minutes, when Nelson was forced off with damaged medial ligaments in his left knee. He is facing a minimum of two weeks on the sidelines.

He was replaced by striker Jon Daly and Pools had more changes than a Rubiks Cube, with four players taking on new roles. It's to their credit not one of them upset the rhythm of the side.

Pools forced ten first-half corners and from their eighth of the half, Duffy got in Ben Clark's way as the ball dropped six yards out and the defender eventually pulled his shot wide.

Corner No 9 saw Daly stoop to head at goal and only the intervention of Croft, standing on the goalline, kept it out.

On Saturday at Bury, it took Pools eight seconds to score from the resart. This time they had a chance after 30, Daly creating space and firing across, forcing Phil Barnes to save.

With Grimsby pushing an extra body up front, the game was opening up and Pools took the lead from another corner.

Boland's kick landed inside the six-yard box and Daly, given a free header, powerfully headed in his first goal since September 30.

He had already scored twice against the Mariners this season, in Pools' emphatic 4-1 win at Blundell Park in September.

Pools appealed for a spot-kick when Sweeney was pulled over in the area by Fenton after turning the defender. But, with the ball running out of play, referee Richard Booth played on.

From another Boland corner, Clark shot at goal and beat Barnes, but Rankin cleared off the line.

But it was soon two - and the goal came from another unmarked player following another Boland flag kick.

The central midfielder floated in from the opposite side, Monkhouse took the ball eight yards out and fired in his second goal, despite the best efforts of the defender on the line.

The win wasn't as emphatic as the last time the sides met at Victoria Park, Pools winning 8-1 in September 2003, but it was just as important.

As injury time beckoned - and another game without conceding was all but completed - Liddle, switched impressively to central defence after Nelson's departure, made a strong block to deny Rankin the chance to shoot.

They don't concede goals easily at Victoria Park.