MATTHEW Bates hopes to see Hartlepool United “make a statement” in the National League after “getting the monkey” off their backs.

Pools ended their wait for a first victory when they saw off Maidenhead United.

Having frittered away winning positions right at the death in two of their previous four fixtures, it was vital Pools did not fluff their lines against the division’s basement club.

They got it right this time thanks to expert finishes from Luke James and Nicky Featherstone in the first 15 minutes of the second half and despite a late Alan Massey goal, Pools were never in any real danger.

In truth, they should have won at a canter, but Bates views his first triumph since his permanent appointment as just the start.

“The monkey’s off our back now,” said Bates with no hint of irony. “Now we want to go on and make a statement in this league.

"We still want more, this is just a start. The lads haven't done anything yet, I haven't done anything yet.

"We need to make this place a fortress while keep getting points on the road.

"This has to be the start for us. You can look at our start in two ways. We've only been beaten once in five, which is a good statistic, but we want more wins as well."

It is pleasing to hear Bates being bold in his outlook. And, it has to be said, there is a bold approach on the park.

Pools should have won by a mile at Braintree last Tuesday and on Saturday they could have pulled clear of the visitors long before Alan Devonshire’s side pulled back a late goal.

James and fellow summer signing, Niko Muir, are looking good up front, receiving plenty of support from the midfield men behind them in Liam Noble, Michael Woods and Featherstone.

"I think we have been lacking a ruthless touch for a couple of seasons really,” said Bates, who was impressed with the front line. "Luke and Niko have a great understanding, they both work hard, they both want the best for the team.

"They are both good goal scorers. It's about trying to get the best out of them within our system, I feel as though we've done that in the last two games.

"It's early days, let's not get carried away, we've won our first game. What we've seen from the strikers has been great but it's a long, old season, they need to keep doing that.

"It's the same for all the players in the team, they need to see those standards high.”

James missed out on the sponsors man of the match to Peter Kioso and while the defender stood out, so too did the forward.

He was involved in almost everything good Pools did, so it was a bit of a surprise half-time arrived with the scoreline blank.

Mark Kitching forced a good low save from Carl Pentney who made stops from both James and Muir, while Myles Anderson should have done better with a free header.

Pools did not have long to wait for the opener, only 67 seconds after the break.

Ryan Donaldson put over an excellent cross from the right and James steered a header into the far side of the net. It was his first goal since re-joining his boyhood club and his first at the Vic since April 2014.

Featherstone goals come along at a similar frequency and his first since January 2017 was worth the wait. Woods found him in the box on the hour and the midfielder produced a good turn and a better angled finish to find the keeper’s left corner.

Kioso and Anderson somehow failed to convert Noble’s 75th-minute free-kick with the goal at their mercy and what should have been 3-0 soon became 2-1 when Massey superbly headed a corner beyond Scott Loach in front of their 35 fans with 11 minutes to go.