A BIT disappointing but it’s a long old season.

That was the verdict of Liam Noble after Hartlepool United ended the second breathless month of the National League programme very much out of breath.

Up against the team with the worst away record in the division, this looked as definite a home banker as Pools could ever have wished for.

However, Pools were left hanging on for grim life for a point at the death against Aldershot, who came close to snatching all three points at the Super 6 Stadium.

Matthew Bates’s side did cling on for a hard-earned draw which kept them eighth in the table, just a point outside the play-off places.

Pools hit something of a brick wall on Saturday, physically and emotionally, after an eight-day period which saw an eventful victory at Halifax, a first defeat in trn matches at new leaders Salford and the frustration of failing to build on Niko Muir’s brilliant first-half finish against the Shots.

There was some booing at full-time at the Vic, though most fans are not complaining that just past the quarter-mark of the programme their side have lost only twice.

That is promotion form.

The concern of the supporters is whether Muir will be fit for Saturday’s home match with Boreham Wood and plus the news that recent signing, Luke Williams, requires minor knee surgery which is likely to rule him out until the start of November.

“Given the high standards we have set ourselves it does feel like a defeat,” explained Noble.

“But it’s another point on the board, it’s a long old season.

“We wanted the three points, you never want back-to-back defeats in this league.

“We lost in mid-week to the team who have spent a lot of money and who people think should walk this league.

“We’ve not been beaten here and we’ll go again on Saturday.

“It’s never a must-win game at this stage of the season it’s probably a game we’re looking to get three points from.

“We have a full week to work up to Boreham Wood so we have no excuses.

“I’ll come and sit here on Saturday and if we haven’t got the three points then you can slaughter me!”

The fact that Pools did avoid defeat against the Shots, who have been play-off semi-finalists for the past seasons, clearly augurs well.

Pools teams of recent years have too often come a cropper, especially at the Vic.

“We’re obviously a bit disappointed with the result,” added Noble. ”We weren’t really at the races.

“We got in at half-time and the gaffer wasn’t happy and he said we needed to up it.

“We didn’t do that and we really just need to move on.

“It was a long hard run, three games in a week is never nice but we got four points from it.

“We’re a new side, with people new to this level , Mark Kitching has never played 13 games in a row before and Niko Muir was loading vans last season and playing part-time.

“We’ve had a good start, we’re eighth in the league and we still have 30-odd games left.”

Pools struggled to get out of their low gear against the Shots, who arrived on the back of six straight defeats on the road and looked every inch a side struggling for form.

But the Pools side who played with such a swagger at Halifax seven days earlier and competed so strongly against moneybags Salford in midweek was missing.

Bates made three changes, bringing in Peter Kioso, Michael Woods and fit again Ryan Donaldson but that made no difference.

However, Woods was instrumental in two of the most dangerous moves of the first half.

The midfielder could not quite get on the end of a one-two with Muir but when he found the striker in the box in the 32nd minute it set up the opening goal.

Muir executed the most delightful left-foot lob over Jake Cole to net his fourth goal of the season.

Elsewhere, Andrew Davies headed over from a corner and Luke James shot straight at Cole.

Had Pools gone in two up then there would surely have been no way back for an Aldershot team who had scored only twice in total on the road.

However, one goal never seems enough for Pools and so it proved.

Scott Loach, who had done superbly at the end of the first half to thwart Matt McClure at the forward’s feet, showed his acrobatics with two stunning second-half saves from Adam McDonnell as Aldershot began to up the ante.

A goal was inevitable though, ironically, it came from a Pools attack.

Cole collected a James grass-cutter and launched a quick throw and seconds later the ball was in the home box, where McClure flashed his shot past Loach.

The Pools keeper repelled further Shots pressure but was grateful when the crossbar kept out sub Jake Gallagher’s last-minute overhead kick. The away fans behind the goal screamed the ball had bounced over the line, but the officials ruled otherwise and Pools hung on to what Noble says was a point won.