Altrincham's much-changed side dominated first-half posession and deservedly led at the interval. The goal came when Pools ex-Alty loanee, Luke WAterfall, cleared the ball directly to Matty Kosylo who netted with a low shot from 20 yards (33 mins).

Goalkeeper Dixon probably should have done better than divert the shot into the roof of the net.

Earlier a Dior Angus header had hit the bar following a corner. The same player also had a great chance to make it 2-0 when he beat a defender and got into the goalmouth only to miscue his shot weakly to Dixon's hands.

But the Pools were much improved in the second half and netted twice in the first eight minutes after the break.

Firstly, as Roscoe attempted to shepherd the ball to him, Gould came out to his right but then retreated, allowing the ball to be played by Grey for Dieseruvwe to convert easily.

Four minutes later Gould was deemed to have brought down Grey. Dieseruvwe sent Gould the wrong way from the spot to give his side a lead they had not deserved at that stage (53 mins).

Alty then saw plenty of the ball without creating a clear chance and, when substitute Linney lost possession, the ball was played in from the right to Grey whose low cross was held up by Dieseruvwe, allowing Ferguson to sweep in a third goal (69 mins).

Alty got a consolation goal in added time when substitute Conn-Clarke found Angus from the left and his low shot went through Dixon's legs to make the final score 3-2 (90-+1 mins).

Results elsewhere saw Altrincham drop out of the play-off places into eighth.

SCORERS:

• 33 mins: Matty KOSYLO (Hartlepool United 0 ALTRINCHAM 1)
• 49 mins: Manny DIESERUVWE (Hartlepool United 1 ALTRINCHAM 1)
• 53 mins: Manny DIESERUVWE (penalty) (Hartlepool United 2 ALTRINCHAM 1)
• 69 mins: David FERGUSON (Hartlepool United 3 ALTRINCHAM 1)
• 90(+1) mins: Dior ANGUS (Hartlepool United 3 ALTRINCHAM 2)

Phil Parkinson startled many supporters by making five changes to the team which, before its visit to Aldershot last Saturday, had been on an unbeaten run.

Out went regulars Baines, Linney, Conn-Clarke, Amaluzor, and Newby who were also the club's five leading scorers this season with 42 league goals to their collective names. They were swapped for the five players who populated the subs' bench last weekend.

Hartlepool were unchanged.

Hartlepool's pre-match injury list included Otis Khan, Josh Umerah, Anthony Mancini, Dan Dodds, Courtney Duffus and Courtney Senior.

LINE-UPS:

HARTLEPOOL UNITED (Blue and white striped shirts, blue shorts): 1. Joel Dixon, 3. David Ferguson, 10. Callum Cooke, 12. Joe Grey, 20. Emmanuel Dieseruvwe, 22. Tom Crawford, 27. Luke Hendrie, 29. Tom Parkes, 35. Nicky Featherstone, 38. Brennan Dickenson, 42. Luke Waterfall. Subs: 13. Peter Jameson, 23. Manny Onariase, 32. Louis Stephenson, 6. Kieran Wallace, 41. Chay Cooper.

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts, red socks): 1. Matt Gould, 2. Lewis Banks, 15. Jake Cooper, 3. Eddie Jones, 8. Isaac Marriott (c), 6. Elliot Osborne, 16. Sam Roscoe, 7. Matty Kosylo, 14. Dior Angus, 19. George Wilson, 44. Dan Mooney. Subs: 4. Lewis Baines, 10. Chris Conn-Clarke, 30. Alex Newby, 11. Justin Amaluzor, 9. Regan Linney.

This was Altrincham's second away game in 72 hours in a sequence of four games out of five on the road.

The hosts' manager Kevin Phillips went into the game unbeaten after his first four fixtures in charge.

Altrincham won a freekick immediately after kicking off when Mooney was fouled (15 secs). They dominated the early stages, winning two corners inside eight minutes, with Angus heading the first against the bar (7 mins).

A run up the left by Ferguson was the first real sign of life from the hosts before Grey won a corner off Jones (20 mins).

Alty continued to enjoy plenty of possession and, when Osborne's raking pass found Mooney, the winger should have done better than to cut in and hit a weak shot to Dixon (24 mins). Mooney has yet to recapture the form that earned him a move to Southend for last season.

Kosylo was impressing on the other wing and it was he who fired his side ahead. A Hartlepool clearance by Waterfall went straight to him, some 25 yards out, left of centre. Kosylo took a touch before firing at goal. Dixon got a hand to it but could only push the ball up into the upper reaches of his own net (33 mins).

A fine pass from Osborne led to Banks winning a corner, as the home support became understandably restless at their own side's lacklustre display (38 mins).

A foul on Kosylo meant that Crawford was the match's first booking (41 mins). The home crowd's mood should have deepened further on 42 minutes when Cooper fed Angus who impressively got past two defenders to face goalkeeper Dixon. But he could only muster a tame shot which ran to the custodian.

Another Alty corner came just before three added minutes were proclaimed as they remained comfortably in charge.

As the teams left the field there was some booing of their team by home supporters whilst Alty's contentment with their lead must have been tempered by an awareness that Kevin Phillips would not allow such a poor home display to continue into the second half and also by the concern that a one-goal lead was scant reward for their first-half dominance.

Hartlepool introduced Stephenson for Dickenson at the break. They kicked off and immediately showed more fire than before the break, with Dieseruvwe winning an early corner.

But Alty responded with Mooney's best run of the game, which culminated in a well-struck shot from right of goal which Dixon held at the second attempt (47 mins).

Then four minutes of disaster struck Altrincham. As Roscoe, facing his own byline, attempted to shepherd a header back to his keeper, Gould came out to the right of his goal, only to hesitate and retreat back towards his net.

Pools took advantage, feeding Dieseruvwe for a simple equaliser (49 mins).

Just four minutes later, after Marriott had ben dispossessed, the hosts took the lead when Grey got into the box and Gould came out of his goal to dive at his feet. Grey went down, and a penalty was awarded. .

Dieseruvwe converted the penalty, sending the keeper the wrong way and making it 2-1 (53 mins).

Phil Parkinson promptly reacted by taking off both wingers, Mooney and Kosylo, and bringing on defender Baines and striker Linney (55 mins).

Hartlepool now seemed content to allow Alty plenty of the ball but the visitors could not make capital from that. On the hour Cooper advanced upfield, only to lose possession and, in his haste to prevent a counter-attack, his crude challenge on Pakes earned him a yellow card.

At this point Alty brought on Conn-Clarke for Wilson, who had a solid game.

Dieseruvwe now got booked for persistent offending (61 mins) before he engaged in a spat with Osborne, with both men being lectured by Mr Jackson.

Soon after a Conn-Clarke effort had been routinely saved, Hartlepool got a third goal. Linney lost possession in midfield and Dieseruvwe and Grey exchanged passes before the former, with back to goal, held the ball up for the oncoming Ferguson to fire into the net from about 15 yards, making it 3-1 (69 mins).

The sides traded a corner apiece over the next ten minutes as Altrincham laboured to create a telling opening.

Frustration led to a booking for Osborne for a foul (80 min) before Grey won a corner for the hosts (85 mins).

Wallace replaced Crawford (89 mins) before five added minutes were announced. In the first of these, Conn-Clarke was shepherded over to the left by defenders but his low cross from there was smartly turned in the net by Angus, the ball going through Dixon's legs, to complete an unhappy night for both goalkeepers.

It was to be just a consolation goal as Hartlepool won two late corners to extinguish any hope of a very late equaliser at the other end.

Alty paid the price for not building a bigger first-half lead and for conceding three goals through their own errors.

On a night when other team's results were broadly in facour of Alty's play-off push, Altrincham let themselves down by losing a match they appeared to have every chance of winning at the interval. Whether more rotation will be in order on Saturday, at home to Wealdstone, remains to be seen.