A last-gasp goal from the impressive Michael Nelson secured a crucial point for Pools as they more than matched Brentford in the game at Griffin Park this afternoon.

That means that Pools' last day equation works out like this - Paul Stephenson's men must beat Port Vale at The Vic and hope that MK Dons take all the points from their tussle with Rotherham. If that happens, both The Millers and The Dons will go down and Pools would survive.

Pools were made to work hard in the opening exchanges by a determined Brentford outfit, who pushed forward in numbers from the off. Even with their second-choice strike pairing of Marcus Gayle and Callum Willock, Brentford looked strong going forward and the Pools defence were well tested throughout the opening forty-five.

Both Gayle and Willock had shots at goal within the opening five minutes of play and though both went wide of target, they proved an early warning for Pools.

Despite a slightly nervy start by the players, Dimi Konstantopoulos showed great reactions to keep out a point blank header from Willock just before the ten-minute mark and then Eifion Williams got back to clear the danger.

The hosts then missed a good opportunity to take the lead when a teasing run from the lively Jay Tabb found Callum Willock in great position but, with only Dimi to beat, the big striker mis-kicked and saw his effort go well wide of target. Willock was again involved minutes later when he fired a shot at goal from close-range but once again Dimi showed great reactions to come out and block the effort.

Pools did have chances of their own to open the scoring - Ritchie Humphreys drove a low effort towards the near post from a left-wing corner kick but Stuart Nelson did well to block the chance.

Stephenson's side had their best chance to take the lead with the last kick of the first half when a Humphreys' free kick from distance caused The Bees' keeper problems and with Sodje's clearing header finding Porter inside the area, the Aussie striker looked set to hit the opener. But, unfortunately for Pools, his side-footed effort was lobbed agonisingly over the bar.

The second half was a more open affair as Pools enjoyed more of the possession, though has often been the case this season, there were few actual shots on target to really test Stuart Nelson in the home goal.

One that did cause the keeper some problems was a powerful low blast from Thomas Butler from 35 yards out - the midfielder picked his spot through a crowded area but The Bees' keeper came out on top - getting down well to hold the effort.

In what was a whole-hearted battling clash, Pools were dealt a blow on the hour mark - after losing Darrell Clarke to a head injury in the first half after a strong challenge on the midfielder, skipper Micky Barron was stretchered from the field suffering with a head wound after a challenge from Sodje. The injury to Barron later required ten stitches though there was better news for Darrell Clarke who was recovering well after the final whistle.

Martin Allen's side could have taken the lead when Michael Turner found himself in a great position inside the area but the central defender put too much on his shot and it went high into the stand behind the goal. Just minutes later though and the hosts did take the lead - the referee awarded them a free kick around twenty yards out and Kevin O'Connor stepped up to curl a great ball towards Dimi's goal and, aftertaking a slight deflection, the ball sailed past the big keeper and nestled into the top corner of the net.

With only seven minutes left on the clock, Pools had quite a task on their hands but they did not let their heads go down and began to put some real pressure on the home defence. When Pools were awarded a late corner kick, Dimi ran up from his goalmouth to pressure the defence and his presence could well have had an impact. Thomas Butler curled in a free kick which then came back out to Ritchie Humphreys who played it in for man of the match Michael Nelson who made no mistake to hit his second successive goal to fire Pools level.

The wild celebrations that followed both on and off the pitch showed that the belief that Pools can stay up is still there and, with Tranmere Rovers grabbing a late winner at MK Dons, there is still a chance that Stephenson's side can secure their position in League One - but it looks set to be a tense finale at The Vic next weekend.

Pools: Konstantopoulos, Robson, Nelson, Clark, Barron (D Williams 73), Humphreys, Sweeney, Clarke (Butler 36), E Williams (Boyd 62), Proctor, Porter

Subs: Provett, Brown

Brentford: Nelson, O'Connor, Frampton, Sodje, Turner, Newman (Rhodes 62) Brooker (Hutchinson 89), Tabb, Gayle, Willock (Rankin 74), Pratley

Subs: Tillen, Bankole