Pools lost out 2-1 at Norwich City this afternoon, with a first-half Neil Austin goal quickly overturned by the league leaders.
Chris Turner's side dominated much of the opening period but two quick-fire goals from The Canaries saw them took hold of the game before the break.
Pools continued to match their opponents for much of the game but that second breakthrough just failed to arrive and Norwich City broke a club record in winning eleven consecutive home games.
A Scott Flinders block from Wes Hoolahan inside the first two minutes signalled the start of a strong period of pressure from Pools.
With Chris Turner's men matching the 4-3-1-2 formation of their hosts - Andy Monkhouse in the free role of Hoolahan - Norwich City seemed to struggle to cope with the early threat from Pools.
Colin Larkin, who moved up front to pay alongside Denis Behan, went on a good run down the left wing to whip a teasing ball past Michael Nelson and into the area only to see Michael Rose intercept and snatch a chance away from Monkhouse.
With Pools playing the better of the football, the hosts were left frustrated in the early period.
Neil Austin put a great ball in from the right, which narrowly escaped the attentions of both Larkin and Monkhouse who were pressuring in the box and Pools maintained pressure in the final third.
Behan picked up a loose ball in midfield to thread i through for Larkin in a great chance for Pools but with Larking through on goal, the forward scuffed his effort wide of the left hand post.
There was confusion inside the area when Ritchie Humphreys sent a ball in from the left wing - but a fortunate deflection saw the ball bounce onto Larkin and out of danger.
The first twenty minutes belonged to Pools, with The Canaries clearly struggling to get to grips with the movement of Turner's men.
And then with 26 minutes on the clock , Pools earned just reward for their pressure; a long throw from Peter Hartley deep into the final third was hit out to Gamble and Austin on the edge of the area. Austin took control of the situation to take hold of the ball, move into space and send an unstoppable effort past Fraser Forster and into the back of the net.
The lead was nothing more than Pools deserved - unfortunately, it lasted less than one minute.
Russell Martin, who was a big threat down the right with his pace escaped the attentions of Peter Hartley to push forward and send a ball fizzing into the area where Cody McDonlad rose and headed past Flinders.
Pools continued to press after this set-back, with Antony Sweeney sending a ball into the box from the right where Larkin tried his luck with a headed effort which unfortunately went just wide of target.
When former Pools target Michael Rose signed for Norwich in midweek, it seemed inevitable that the man who came so close to putting pen to paper at The Vic would have some say in this game.
And that say came in the 32nd minute; Chris Martin was allowed the space to jink his way forward before cutting a ball back into the path of Rose and the on-loan full back made no mistake as he fired a powerful blast into the bottom right corner of the net to give Norwich a lead just six minutes after Pools had done the same.
The remainder of the first half was a much quieter display with neither goalkeeper really tested and Pools went into the break with a one-goal deficit to overturn.
Norwich City, spurred on by their largest attendance of the season, upped their game after the break and Pools struggled to get into the final third for a spell.
When Turner's men did break forward, they looked strong; the hard-working Monkhouse created a good move which saw the ball pushed through for Humphreys who in turn played it on for Behan - with Forster pulled well off his line though, the Irish striker hit the keeper with his effort and the real danger passed.
With Norwich taking more of a hold on this game, Pools may regret not taking such a good opportunity to fire home.
And the back line for Pools had to remain resolute in the face of increasing pressure from the hosts; Neil Austin again impressive at right back
Michael Nelson came close to scoring against his former Club again when he arrived to meet a corner kick but the big defender saw his header go wide of Flinders' right hand post.
Pools continued to battle away to keep Norwich at bay, with the hosts making it difficult for Turner's men to create any real threat of their own.
Peter Hartley went on a late run down the left wing to lift a good ball into the area but Andy Monkhouse's resulting header on goal was blocked by Forster.
This proved to be though, another game where Pools battled hard , matched the opposition for much of the game but just failed to take the chances when the arrived.
Pools battled to the end and won a corner in the final minute of added-on time but despite headers from both Collins and Gamble, there was no breakthrough and so Pools left Norwich on the back of a narrow 2-1 defeat.
Att: 25,506
Pools: Flinders, Austin, Liddle, Collins, Hartley, Larkin, Sweeney, Gamble, Humphreys (Jones 70), Monkhouse, Behan (Boyd 70)
Subs Not Used: Cook, Clark, Haslam, Fredriksen, Bjornsson
Norwich City: Forster, Nelson, Martin, Doherty, Hoolahan, Martin, Lappin, Russell, Rose, McDonald (Johnson 70), Smith
Subs Not Used: Rudd, Gill, Hughes, McNamee, Kelly, Whitbread
