RONNIE MOORE was recently sitting and bemoaning his side’s luck: “They say it all evens itself out, let me tell you when you are at the bottom it certainly doesn’t.’’

Ten days later after three Hartlepool United victories, three clean sheets, two penalties awarded, an own goal in their favour and a few slices of good fortune, even wily Moore must accept things have changed in Pools’ favour?

“We’ve had some luck for once – at the time you don’t think it will happen when it goes against you all the time,’’ he mused on Saturday after clawing the deficit to safety to a single point.

“I always thought all my managerial life if you work hard enough you get the breaks, if you don’t it won’t happen.

“We couldn’t work any harder than they have the last few games. Now they’ve worked hard and put fear into one or two others who thought it was over for us.

“Let’s see how the other teams cope with the pressure. The big thing about the club, about the town is that everyone has belief now.

“The town is fantastic, they came to this game in numbers and now look at the table and it actually looks quite nice, even though we are still bottom and a win next week will move ourselves up off the bottom.’’

Pools went into this game four points short of the relegation line. Defeat, with other results going against them and it would be seven.

Instead, the ideal scenario played out – relegation rivals lost and Pools won. One tantalising point from jumping off the bottom for the first time since October.

And if they can play with the energy and commitment they’ve showed in the last three games – no coincidence that they’ve taken nine points – then the greatest escape is on.

There’s a belief and feeling around the club, both in the dressing room and on the terraces, that they can actually survive now.

It looked so bleak recently as points were needlessly thrown away without any care or attention.

But now there’s a new outlook. There’s a spirit and unity and the crowd, up thanks to the club’s £10 ticket offer, were right behind them from start to finish.

Don’t forget these players didn’t even talk to each other in the dressing room on a matchday when Moore arrived.

Now he’s got them in each other’s pockets, fighting for the cause. And look at the difference.

Brad Walker maintained his impressive form of the last week, and he was first on scene to take the penalty after Nicky Featherstone was fouled in the area.

After Ryan Bird’s spot kick on Tuesday at Oxford was saved, Walker wasn’t going to miss this one. He deserves plenty of credit for wanting to take the penalty in such pressurised circumstances.

Featherstone earned it, after chasing deep into the corner to get the ball and skirt around Lee Beevers.

The midfielder went right off the boil, but since being restored to the side he’s been very impressive and is relishing playing in a three-man central midfield.

When he first arrived he was astute in possession, keeping the ball, but this was a different dimension – going forward himself with the ball rather than passing sideways.

Moore said: “Nicky has been unlucky since I’ve been here – he’s a great player, no doubt about it. He did so well for the penalty.

“Playing 4-4-2, Woodsy was on fire so he couldn’t get in, but he’s never moaned and got on with it. He’s composed and was streets ahead in there, he did it all well, chased and has great ability and can only get better with games.’’

After Mansfield’s Junior Brown was sent off after planting a full plate of studs into Walker’s face, Pools were put under pressure.

The Stags put four up front and Moore said: “We hung on in there when maybe we’ve had four or five chances to shoot. We got one, we defended well to be fair.

“Credit to them as they went down to ten men and went to 3-2-4! If we got a second then we may have won four or five.

“We didn’t and it was always a worry.’’

He added: “We have closed the gap, we normally give hope and take it away again, but nothing but praise for the way they have done their job.

“It’s one point and the fans stayed with us, they were loyal and they want it as much as anyone. No-one want to go out and if we fight like this, we will get all the support we need.

“Another home game to come – can we get greedy now? We could come off next week off the bottom of the league, which would be fantastic.’’