HARTLEPOOL UNITED were denied victory by one of their own, as Yeovil Town managed a 1-1 draw.

Matty Dolan, the Glovers’ midfielder, was born in Hartlepool and has spent two loan spells at the club.

But, presented with a second-half penalty to level the scores, Dolan made no mistake, sending keeper Adam Bartlett the wrong way from 12 yards.

The penalty came after Andrew Nelson, making his Pools debut after signing from Sunderland on loan, needlessly felled Francois Zoko in the area.

Pools also gave a debut to fellow loanee Louis Rooney, signed from Plymouth and he was lively up front.

He set Padraig Amond clear and he lobbed the ball onto the roof of the net.

Rooney then skirted around keeper Artur Krysiak, but his angled finish was blocked by covering defender Darren Ward.

Pools took the lead on 64 minutes when Nelson’s deep cross picked out Amond and he looped home a header from 16 yards for his 11th of the season.

After Dolan’s leveller, he almost won it with a curling free-kick from 22 yards which Bartlett dived full-stretch to keep out.

Boss Dave Jones said: "We have to manage games better and for 70-75 minutes I couldn’t fault them. We were compact and moved the ball well and the young lad got isolated and he needed more help around him.

“We gave them a chance to come back into it and they did it. We competed against the big men better than last week.

“Yeovil didn’t create many chances, the late free-kick was about it. In open play? I can’t remember many.

“They grew into the game, we needed to manage it better. Young players want to do well and they show inexperience at times.’’

HARTLEPOOL UNITED (4-2-3-1): Bartlett; Donnelly, Bates, Harrison, Kavanagh; Feathertstone, Walker; Nelson, Amond, Alessandra (Thomas 71); Rooney. Subs: Fryer (gk), Oates, Hawkins, Smith, Martin, Richardson.

YEOVIL TOWN (4-3-3): Krysiak; Shepherd, Smith, Lacey (Ward 33), Dickson; Dolan, Butcher, Whitfield; Zoko, Eaves (Sowunmi 65), Akpa-Akpro (Jones 79). Subs: Mugabi, Maddison, Goodship. James.