Hartlepool boss Neale Cooper was delighted after earning his first win since returning to the club as they beat Rochdale 2-0.
Pools last won at Victoria Park in mid-September, but they sent their supporters home happy for once thanks to James Brown's opening goal and a spectacular volley from teenager Luke James to end a run of nine successive home defeats..
Cooper said: "I'm really proud of them. I said at half-time I wanted that effort from the boys. On Monday I was left disappointed with them all losing to Scunthorpe. They had a day off cancelled and reacted well.
"They trained well and we were excellent. Everyone gave their lot, when the crowd sees the team play like that and give that effort, they will get behind them. It's the monkey off their back now they have won at home.
"We played a different way, got the ball in behind them. That was our plan in training and young Luke James, his work ethic is second to none. People may have thought we had a wee striker out there, but look at his performance. He was immense.
"And what a wonderful strike for his goal, superb. We took him off at the end to get a reaction like he did and if he plays like this then people will be sniffing around."
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