Askey disappointed with penalty in Hartlepool’s draw

Hartlepool boss John Askey claimed his side should have gone home with all three points they earned a battling 1-1 draw at Tranmere.

Pools grabbed a vital point as they look to put some daylight between themselves and the relegation places, but Askey felt a refereeing decision cost his side the win.

The visitors had gone in front just before the break when Callum Cooke popped up to stab the ball home.

But Tranmere were given a lifeline in the 68th minute when Harvey Saunders was bundled over just inside the box and Hawkes equalised from the spot.

Hartlepool manager John Askey said of the incident: “I’m disappointed with the goal we conceded as the foul is clearly outside the box and the referee has pointed to the spot, but that’s the way it goes.

“I’m a bit disappointed to only come away with a point, though I felt it was a far better performance than last week.

“But we responded and right at the end Dan Kemp should have scored. It was a great run and any more of a touch on it and it was a goal.

“I’m really pleased with the effort the lads showed and we carry on fighting going into the next game.

“We take a lot of confidence from the result as Tranmere are unbeaten in three games and the players now have to believe in themselves as there’s nothing worse than players not playing with confidence.

“The support from our fans today was great and that’s why we’ve got to stay up.

“The club has worked really hard to get back into the Football League and the supporters deserve it and they were non-stop today and that spurs the players on.”

Tranmere manager Micky Mellon said: “I think the chances we had were better than average, but the bottom line is that if you’re going to win games you have to take those chances.

“The second half became a bit of a basketball game at times and I couldn’t fault the effort of the players, but what we lacked was a little bit of composure.

“Seven points out of nine in the last three games is very good but we wanted to win today and it was a frustrating afternoon.

“In the second half we showed the character that was needed in order to win the game but we just couldn’t get that second goal.

“I’ll go home disappointed that we didn’t get more out of the game, but we have to look at what we’ve taken and crack on and keep encouraging our young players.

“All we can do is be patient and keep working with the young players we have, keep expectations at a reasonable level and hope they grow and blossom going forward.”