91Èȱ¬

Hartlepool continued their remarkable recent run of form with victory over fellow strugglers Scunthorpe.

The visitors went in front when James Poole drove his shot into the bottom corner from just inside the box.

They doubled the lead when Jonathan Franks' excellent left-foot strike from the edge of the box found the corner.

Debutant James Alabi's close-range header pulled one back for the home side late on, but Hartlepool hung on to keep their hopes of survival alive.

After picking up just 13 points from their first 27 games this season, Pools have now picked up 14 points out of a possible 18, winning four times in an unbeaten six-match run that has lifted them off the bottom of League One.

Scunthorpe United boss Brian Laws told 91Èȱ¬ Radio Humberside:

"It could be very damaging. We won't know until the end of the season but we've mentioned many times about the importance of our home performances.

"We thought we were turning a corner with three wins on the bounce which give us great encouragement and belief.

"Today we've got to be honest with ourselves and I thought Hartlepool, particularly during the first half, won too many battles. If you let them do that you've got a problem."