Almost there. On and off the field.

Hartlepool United have moved seven points clear of the National League’s relegation zone after a clinical Michael Woods double at Maidstone brought them their third 2-1 win on the spin.

And with the Raj Singh and Jeff Stelling takeover edging ever closer to completion, set to be finalised after the Easter break, life is now significantly brighter at Victoria Park.

Victory over seemingly-doomed Guiseley on Easter Monday will surely do the trick and secure Pools National League status, though caretaker boss Matthew Bates is urging caution despite extending his impressive unbeaten run to five matches.

“We have to stay on our toes and keep doing the basics well,” he said. “We have to stay true to our philosophy of how we want to play.

“We’ve done well, we’ve dragged other teams into it thanks to our wins, but we are not mathematically safe.

“Our squad size is really thin, it’s quite worrying, especially if we lost a couple of senior players to injury.

“I’m sure we’ll be all right but we have to keep the same attitude and continue doing the basics.

“Belief has growm from the results and performances and I can’t praise the players enough, they have been magnificent.”

Pools may not have repeated the football they produced in midweek against Bromley, but they certainly produced the goods at both ends of the pitch when it mattered.

Woods calmly stroked in the rebound of a saved Rhys Oates shot to net his tenth goal of the season in the 25th minute and grabbed his 11th with a penalty in the dying embers of normal time.

Ross Lafayette pulled one back in stoppage time as the Stones finally got the better of Scott Loach who was superb as the last line of defence.

“Woodsy has been massively important for us,” explained Bates. “He deserved his two goals. He’s a leader on the pitch and a presence off it.

“We didn’t have our designated penalty taker on the pitch so he took the responsibility in a tense situation and put the spot-kick away.

“Loachy has been brilliant all season but his performances have certainly gone up a notch the last few weeks.

“He’s enjoying his football more and that helps. He’s had less work to do, the lads have been better organised in front of him, but he’s been brilliant.

“Like Woodsy, he’s a leader and he’s someone I rely on.”

While the pair will share the plaudits, it has to be recorded that this was a real team effort.

Skipper Carl Magnay, filling in at centre-half, played a captain’s innings at the heart of a heroic defence, while just ahead of him, Nicky Featherstone got through a tremendous amount of work.

Top marks too to Jake Cassidy, who led the attack well again and won the decisive late penalty.

“I wasn’t overly happy with how we played compared to how we’d done previously,” added Bates. “But what we lacked in possession and technical ability we more than made up for with our attitude and our mindset to dig out a result.”

Conditions were not great at the Gallagher Stadium as the rain lashed down on the 4G pitch, but it made for exciting spectacle.

Cassidy scuffed one narrowly wide early on after good work by Woods while at the other end, Lewis Hawkins made a crucial sliding block from Lafayette as did Louis Laing after his error almost let in Blair Turgott.

However, Pools found their rhythm and were denied a goal when the offside flag ruled out a crisp Oates shot, while Woods had an attempt blocked with Lee Worgan saving Hawkins’ follow up shot.

However, Pools were not to be denied and Oates was at the heart of it. Josh Hawkes found him with a delightful pass with the striker seeing his effort saved by Worgan, with Woods on hand to slot in the rebound.

Loach displayed his acrobatics to tip over a Joe Anderson left-footer before the break and then kept out Turgott in added time.

Just before the hour, Hawkes went closer to his second goal in two games when he flashed a right-foot shot wide after slick passing move.

Loach then produced an amazing save from Greg Luer who was clean through on goal to keep Pools ahead.

Bates’s side should have been 2-0 up when Featherstone’s delicious through ball released Devante Rodney but having done the hard work rounding Worgan, the delay was enough to allow Alex Finney to make a last-ditch tackle.

Cassidy did the business at both ends to help Pools over the finishing line.

First, he deflected an Alex Wynter header wide of his keeper’s left post and then two minutes from time won the penalty after drawing a foul from the same player.

With penalty-taker Liam Donnelly absent after returning from Northern Ireland U21 with a knock, up stepped Woods from the spot. He did not let Pools down, sending Worgan the wrong way.

It should have been game, set and match.

But Lafayette pulled one back in the first minute of injury time after Pools could not clear a corner.

There was a heart-in-the-mouth moment or two in the seven additional minutes with Lafayette heading over and Wynter firing wide, but Pools hung on and are almost there.