Lee Clark - Hartlepool United's defeat to Eastleigh 'a massive kick in the teeth'

Pools, who played almost the entirety of the second half with 10 men following Neo Eccleston's sending off, had been on the cusp of securing a battling point when Nelson Khumbeni's brilliant 97th minute strike condemned them to a second successive defeat in painful fashion.

Following an even first half in which both sides had chances, with Will Harris forcing a smart save from experienced Eastleigh goalkeeper Nick Townsend while Brooklyn Ilunga did superbly to clear Aaron Blair's effort off the line, Pools were reduced to 10 men less than a minute into the second period after referee Dale Baines, the brother of former England international Leighton, gave Eccleston his marching orders.