HARTLEPOOL United’s first game under Keith Curle ended up finishing goalless against Gillingham but results elsewhere saw them drop to the foot of League Two stretching their winless run to 19 games.

With Pools short of results and short of confidence, Curle has a job on his hands to ensure they are not embroiled in a relegation battle for the remainder of the season.

Both sides struggles to get to grips with the game in the opening stages. Wes McDonald seized on a slip from Ryan Law and drove into the box but the winger couldn’t capitalise on the space as Law made up the ground to recover with a sliding challenge.

Mikael Ndjoli showed good skill on the left hand side to beat two defenders. His low cross was met by Josh Umerah but the striker hooked his volley wide of post.

 In truth, it was a fairly turgid affair. Two efforts from the edge of the box cleared the ground before Hakeeb Adelakun danced his way inside from the right but sent a shot with his weaker foot well off target.

Alex Lacey was having a solid game in defence for Pools and was on hand to prevent Gills with an important block. A curling cross into the box was nodded down to Ben Reeves who caught his effort sweetly only to see Lacey block his path.

The best of the first half was offered up right at the very end by McDonald who gave the home crowd a rare moment to cling onto. A piece of trickery to beat two men allowed him to drift inside and take the ball beyond another defender. His bending shot beat the keeper but not defender Law who was on hand to head the ball off the line.

Into the second half, both sides threatened within five minutes. Scott Kashket broke beyond the Pools defence but fluffed his shot at the final moment before McDonald’s cross into the box was met by Reghan Tumilty who managed to divert his volley towards the corner flag.

Both sides, who were in desperate need of a result, were devoid of a considerable lack of quality.

Ndjoli, who was leading the Pools attack, gave Glenn Morris a save to make when he met Tumilty’s cross on the right with a firm header with the Gills keeper tipping over the bar.

Pools had the ascendancy as the game wore on with McDonald providing the home side’s biggest threat. His pace and skill was causing havoc but the home side could not find a way through a resilient Gillingham defence.

With five minutes remaining, Pools cut through the Gills backline with a sequence of first time passes. Kevin Odour made space for himself by checking back inside but Morris rushed out, made himself big and blocked the shot.

With seven minutes of stoppage time signalled, Pools were throwing everything they had whilst the out of form Gills shut up shop. In a last ditch attempt to grab a late victory, Mo Sylla charged onto Tumility’s low cross and his deflected touch agonisingly shaved the outside of the post.

The full-time whistle blew at the Suit Direct Stadium to bring a conclusion to a tepid performance on the whole. While it is a point on the board for Curle’s first game in charge, Pools downward spiral showed little sign of coming to an end.