Goalkeeper Jan Budtz made a mess of saving a low shot from Northampton sub Giles Coke eight mintes from the end, and Danny Wilson admitted the keeper should be disappointed with his attempts to stop the ball.
The shot was an old-fasioned daisy-cutter and Budtz must have seen it from the second it left Coke's boot, but he couldn't manage to get his arms along the line to stop it sneaking inside his left-hand post.
Even Cobblers manager Stuart gray admitted: "Their keeper possibly should have stopped it."
But while it is not Budtz's first mistake of the season, we should remember that a keeper is always open to criticism when he makes an error because it can often lead to a goal. Make a mistake in midfield, and it often doesn't matter.
But that shouldn't disguise the fact that Pools weren't up to much really.
The defence didn't look bad with Graeme Lee enjoying a good home debut on his return to the club, until he tired late on, but in midfield Pools were poor.
Gary Liddle and Antony Sweeney didn't really get into the game, while Willie Boland and Alan Thompson never imposed their experience on the game and were taken off in the second half.
Two questions, though:

• Why was Godwin Antwi taken off when he was having a good game at right back?
• Why wasn't Andy Monkhouse, a star last season, used as a sub?

There's still plenty to play for this season, and with eight games in March that will be the month that defines their season.
The fans could do with a few high spots between now and the end of the season to give them something to remember this season for, otherwise all it's been is a long series of costly mistakes and inconsistency.

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