HARTLEPOOL United and Barrow played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Victoria Park, as Pools bounced back from the Boxing Day thumping at Harrogate.

The visitors, top of the table, were more than matched by a vibrant Pools side. Boss Dave Challinor made five changes to his team from Thursday.

And he was rewarded with a man of the match display by the recalled Gavan Holohan, who scored one and set up the other Pools goal for Ryan Donaldson.

A mix-up between keeper Joel Dixon and defender Sam Hird almost brought an own goal, as the latter knocked the ball past the advancing team-mate, but he got back to clear under pressure.

From a Gary Liddle slice, Scott Quigley was presented with a chance. His frustrations were already to the fore before he whacked a shot horribly wide.

Just 42 seconds into the second-half, Pools trailed, with keeper Ben Killip at fault.

Lewis Hardcastle let rip with a shot from 25 yards, but Killip pushed the ball into the net after getting his hands onto it.

Ten minutes later and the scores were level. Holohan latched onto a pass and drove home a fine angled strike from distance.

Fraser Kerr nodded straight at keeper Dixon. Pools had their tails up. Liddle met a corner six yards out and headed over.

It proved decisive as the visitors broke away and Dior Angus wriggled past the defence to push his finish home.

Pools again drew level, captain Donaldson heading home at the far post after fine work and a cross by Holohan from the byline.

Both sides exerted plenty of energy and effort in search of a winner, neither side willing to sit back. A superbly-timed sliding tackle by Peter Kioso stopped Oliver Dyson in his tracks as he strode purposely into the area.

Boss Challinor said: "It was a fair one. Before the game would we take a point? We knew it would be a tough one against a side deservedly at the top.

“We are a bit of a work in progress and wen want to be a wounded animal… we didn’t play well enough, work hard enough, at Harrogate. We needed to bounce back. I can’t ask any more for effort, but we have to reproduce that every week. That’s the benchmark.

“We have to cut out mistakes. Goals are poor and they put us on the back foot.

“We conceded, got a great equaliser, pushed on for a second and it’s another pin in the balloon to concede again. The fans stuck with us, they saw the effort. It’s a bare minimum.

“We have to physically match what other teams are doing and we did that today. A deserved point against a good team.

HARTLEPOOL UNITED (3-5-2): Killip; Kerr, Liddle, Kioso; Richardson (Kitching 83), Shelton, Featherstone, Holohan, Donaldson; Toure, Kabamba (Hamilton 86).

Subs: Raynes, Hawkes, Mafuta.

BARROW (3-4-1-2): Dixon; Brough (Dyson 70), Hird, Platt; Barry, White, Rooney; Brown; Hardcastle; Quigley (Harrison 74), Angus (Hindle 81).

Subs: Taylor, Greaves.