WITH two wins in a week and two clean sheets, Hartlepool’s relegation worries are hopefully a thing of the past. They always looked the better side against a Gillingham team deep in the bottom four and survived some shaky moments thanks to keeper Arran Lee-Barrett, who made some good saves and kept out a second-half penalty. Pools boss Danny Wilson said: “It was a vital game for us. The players were aware how important it was. “It wasn’t always as easy as the score suggests and my heart was in my mouth when they got their penalty. We got the luck and Arran made amends with his save.” With Sam Collins and Michael Nelson forming a powerful partnership in the middle of the defence and Joel Porter and Michael Mackay running hard up front, life was a lot easier in midfield. Pools looked nervous in the opening minutes and keeper Arran Lee-Barrett had to come to their rescue with a handful of early saves. He appeared to make a meal of a weak shot from Delroy Facey, fumbling the ball on the line, but did better as he pushed out another Facey shot. Hartlepool started to get their game together – Antony Sweeney shooting over and having a goal disallowed – and two goals in five minutes put them firmly in command. On 21 minutes, a weak Gillingham clearance landed nicely for Andy Monkhouse and he curled his shot into the top corner from 25 yards. That was a spectacular finish and on 26 minutes came a brilliant solo goal. Joel Porter dummied past his marker, beat another defender and chipped a great finish over keeper Derek Stillie. The second half was spoiled by driving rain, but on 69 minutes Gillingham were handed a lifeline when Lee-Barrett ran into Simeon Jackson to give away a spot kick. But Lee-Barrett made amends with a brilliant save from Adam Miller’s penalty and four minutes later it was over. Pools picked themselves up and Sam Collins got the third with a header from Jamie McCunnie’s corner. Now it was only a matter of how many Pools would score and they got a fourth in added time with a free kick by McCunnie. It finished up an easy win, but manager Wilson admitted: “It might not have been that close, but they had their moments.” Pools are at home to Huddersfield on Tuesday and a win could see them looking towards the top of the table. | 
