The Hartlepool fans who braved Arctic conditions to fight their way out of the north-east and make the journey south to Luton on Saturday will be glad that they didn't turn back for the warmth of home.

After a first half with few highlights apart from the goals, they saw Chris Turner's men put on an excellent display after the break which could easily have seen them return home with all three points.

Darrell Clarke's double strike put them ahead after old-boy Steve Howard had put the Hatters ahead and only a late equaliser from super-sub Marvin Johnson denied Pools the full return on the day.

Turner was delighted with his side's performance, " I've not got one inch of disappointment what so ever. I thought it was an excellent away team performance and we could even have nicked a couple more goals. I thought it was a great game of football. A great example of third division football.

"Any point away from home is a good point so I'm delighted with it. We didn't hang on for the point, we didn't have ten men behind the ball hanging on - we kept playing and looking for the third goal. I thought we had two or three other good chances. Flash (Watson) had the header at the end and one cleared off the line and Humphreys' shot went just wide."

The first half saw Pools soaking up pressure from Luton and being restricted to attacks on the break, but keeper Anthony Williams barely had a save to make.

"We've got a good defensive record - as the league table will confirm, we're one of the best in the league. That's the first time we've concede two goals away from home in a league game for quite some time. I thought that we could have used the ball a bit better in the first half - we were defending but then giving it straight back to Luton. In the second half we kept the ball better and were able to build up some play," added Turner.

It was an excellent all-round team performance from Pools and Turner wasn't keen to single out any one player, "I thought it was a great performance from Darrell Clarke, Tommy Widdrington and Michael Barron, plus I thought the front two worked hard and were always lively. I am pleased with everybody really - I couldn't fault the performance."

As in the home encounter just two weeks previously, Steven Howard was always a handful and kept Graeme Lee and Chris Westwood fully occupied. However, he lost his marker in the 35th minute and had the straightforward task of heading home unchallenged from Jean-Louis Valois' left-wing corner. Just minutes later the former Pool front man could have made it two with a powerful downward header but a superb reaction save from Williams denied him.

With Pools relying on the hard work of Watson and Humphreys up front and the surging runs of Tinkler they looked like going in at the break trailing by Howard's goal but Clarke had other ideas. Paul Smith cut inside his man and fired in a low shot which Ovendale could not hold and the former Mansfield midfielder nipped in to sidefoot home.

The second half saw both sides produce much more entertaining football and it was the visitors who had the upper hand for much of the period. Clarke was seeing a lot of the ball wide on the right and was a constant thorn in the side of Kinnear's men. In the 59th minute there seemed to be little danger when he had the ball at his feet on the right wing, but his cross-shot left Ovendale totally stranded and sailed over his head into the far corner of the net.

Gordon Watson had been struggling with 'flu, but this was never evident as he and partner Ritchie Humphreys put in a tireless display of running to harry the home defence. The leading scorer had been unlucky not to increase his tally when his shot beat the keeper only for Bayliss to clear off the line.

The hardy travelling Pools contingent must have been hoping for an early Christmas present of three priceless points, but the home side came back with a late rally. Substitute Marvin Johnson played a neat one-two with fellow replacement Fotiadis and sidefooted the ball home past Williams with just five minutes to go. They almost grabbed what would have been an unjust winner in the dying minutes when Howard broke clear, but the Welsh keeper pulled off a brave save with his feet to deny the striker.

HARTLEPOOL :

Williams: two vital saves 7,

Barron: adapted to new role well 7,

Lee: solid at back 7,

Westwood: steady away 7,

Robinson: sound 7,

CLARKE: goals capped fine outing 9,

Tinkler: back to his best 8,

Widdrington: never wasted ball 7,

Smith: constant prompting 7,

Humphreys: tireless worker 8,

Watson: ran his socks off 7 (Boyd 89 mins)

Not used: Hollund, Bass, Parkin, Sweeney

Booked : none

Goals: Clarke 45, 59

Man of the match - Darrell Clarke - a constant threat down the right where he saw a lot of the ball, a performance justly rewarded with his two goals

LUTON : Ovendale 6, Spring 6, Perrett 6, Nicholls 6, Taylor 6, Boyce 7, Howard 7, VALOIS 8, (Fotiadis 80 mins - 6), Bayliss 7, Crowe 6 (Forbes 80 mins - 6), Brkovic 7 (Johnson 60 mins - 7)

Not Used: Emberson, Hughes

Booked: Perrett 51 (foul),

Goals: Howard 35 Johnson 85

Referee : G Cain - 7