A disappointing afternoon at The Vic saw Pools lose out 4-1 to bottom-of-the-league Crewe Alexandra.
Despite a Joel Porter goal drawing Pools level just after the break, The Railwaymen went on to make the most of the break by thumping another three goals home in the second half.
Crewe showed that, despite their current league standing, they were clearly up for the game as they pressed forward from the off. The visitors' main early threat came down the left wing, while striker Shaun Miller also proved something of a handful.
Sam Collin shad to time his interception well to deny Miller who had twisted his way into the area to cap off a move that started deep in his own half while minutes later the big defender headed clear again to deny the Crewe forward.
Pools got their own game going after ten minutes of play and began to press the Crewe defence - Chris Turner's instruction to his players to shoot more clearly being taken on board.
A good ball in from Ritchie Humphreys on the left found the lively Joel Porter rising in the box but his glancing header went just wide of target. Porter tried his luck justminutes later with a looping effort but this time it was keeper Stuart Tomlinson who denied the Aussie striker.
A good move involving Humphreys and Gary Liddle down the left set up Porter for another strike on goal but once again the Crewe stopper punched clear and Pools were denied.
With shots from Ben Clark, Andy Monkhouse and Gary Liddle also keeping the visiting defence on their toes, it seems only a matter of time before the deadlock was broken.
Ritchie Humphreys proved one of Pools' biggest threat in the first half as the left back was allowed the space to push forward and was the architect of several attacking moves.
Antony Sweeney did well to head clear from a Michael O'Connor corner kick which just escaped the attentions of Lee-Barrett, while Sam Collins hoofed clear from another O'Connor ball into the box.
A ball in from Ritchie Jones from the right found the head of Andy Monkhouse in space in the box but the winger's effort was eventually held by Tomlinson despite initially fumbling his stop.
There was a big blow for Pools just on the strike of half time when the visitors took the lead; Clayton Donaldson picked up possession on the edge of his own box and burst forward right into Lee-Barrett's area.
Despite the attentions of Antony Sweeney, Donaldson managed to get a ball in across the face of goal from the right where it eventually found its way to the far post where it was poked home by John Brayford under pressure from Sam Collins.
After dominating the opening half, Chris Turner's side had work to do in the second period if they wee to get their just rewards from this clash.
Just two minutes into the second half and Pools got the equaliser - great play by Joel Porter saw him skip into the box from the left side before edging past the defender and shooting home past Tomlinson.
This was the perfect start to the second half for Turner's side but unfortunately they failed to capitalise on the goal and Crewe were allowed to once again take the lead.
With ten minutes of the second half having been played Danny Shelley fed a ball into the box from the right wing which went unchallenged and found Shaun Miller who did enough to poke it past Lee-Barrett and into the back of the net.
Once again Pool s were left with work to do if they were to get anything out of this game - Crewe were clearly in no mood to roll over and Turner's men needed to make more of their possession if they were to take hold of things.
But things went from bad to worse just after the hour mark when Luke Murphy picked up possession thirty-five yards out on goal and fired a thunderous strike past Lee-Barrett and into the back of the net to make it 3-1 to the visitors.
As Pools once again set off in search of a goal, Michael Nelson rose highest to meet Ritchie Jones' freekick but his header bounced on the crossbar and went out of play.
Andy Monkhouse drove low at goal but Tomlinson collected comfortably while Porter hit his effort from the edge of the area high over the bar.
Pools continued to control most of the possession but failed to really threaten the Crewe defence and Crewe finally wrapped things up in the 83rd minute when Clayton Donaldson closed down Lee-Barrett putting the keeper under pressure - Lee-Barrett then tried to chip the ball over the big striker but it only found Miller who smashed the ball home to round proceedings off at 4-1.
A highly disappointing result for Pools left the fans inside The Vic frustrated and the game ended with a chorus of boos.
Next up for Turner's men is a break from League One action with the visit of Stoke City in FA Cup Third Round action.
Pools: Lee-Barrett, Sweeney, Nelson, Collins, Humphreys, Jones, Liddle, Clark (McCunnie 69), Monkhouse (Mackay 69), Kyle, (Foley 80) Porter
Subs Not Used: Budtz, Rowell
Crewe Alexandra: Tomlinson, Daniel, O'Donnell,. Lawrence, Brayford, Carrington, Murphy, Shelley (Bopp 90), O'Connor, Miller (Elding 90), Donaldon
Subs Not Used: Collis, McManus, Grant
