James Brown fired a superb winning goal for Hartlepool as they overcame Gillingham 1-0.

Hartlepool claim battling 1-0 win

James Brown fired a superb winning goal for Hartlepool as they overcame Gillingham 1-0. The game looked destined to be heading for a stalemate before Brown let fly with an unstoppable drive midway through the second half to hand the visitors all three points. Both sides had chances to open the scoring in the first half with Simeon Jackson and Curtis Weston going close for the hosts and Brown heading over from close range at the other end. Gillingham stepped up the pressure after the restart and looked to have opened the scoring when Jackson beat Hartlepool goalkeeper Scott Flinders, only for defender Sam Collins to get back and clear the danger. And the visitors soon made them pay when Brown rifled a shot from the edge of the area into the top right-hand corner after 64 minutes. Gillingham should have drawn level late on but Mark McCammon's header was spectacularly tipped over by Flinders 10 minutes from time and Pools held on.