Pools Reserves finished their totesport.com league campaign on a high with a comfortable 4-2 victory over Bradford City.
When Billy Greulich hit the woodwork inside the first five minutes of play, it was a sign of things to come as the first half here at The Vic proved energetic.
With eight minutes on the clock, Greulich made sure with his finish as he got on the end of an in-swinging Jon-Andre Fredriksen freekick to hit the opener.
Within five minutes though, the visitors were level and largely against the run of play; Luke Dean fired in from inside the area pulling a good block out of keeper Andy Rafferty but the ball fell nicely for Ben Wilkinson who poked home from close range.
Three minutes later and the lead was restored with some suspect defending from Bradford City leading up to the goal.
Good pressure from Greulich and Mackay sent the visiting defence into a spin and pulled the keeper Matthew Convey way off his line - Mackay showed good pace to rush in and finish from a tight angle to make it 2-1 to Pools.
With 29 minutes on the clock, Colin West's men made the most of some strong pressure as Michael Mackay flicked the ball on for Jon-Andre Fredriksen who showed a good touch to finish past Convey under pressure from the defender.
And Pools had another good chance to hit the net when good play down the right between Steve Haslam and Colin Larkin saw the latter send a great ball deep into the box where Greulich pressed the defender on the line only for Convey to get enough on the ball to bundle it away.
West's men looked comfortable going into the break and clearly confidence was high as Alan Power tried his luck with a strike straight from the re-start.
Colin Larkin had a great effort on goal just after the re-start when he picked the ball up just inside the box to send a well-struck effort goalwards - unfortunately the post denied him his goal as play continued.
Larkin smashed another effort into the side netting from a quick Mackay throw as Pools looked to add to their tally and end the season on a high.
Denis Behan entered the action just before the hour mark to add more weight to the Pools attack and give the striker his first taste of action since recovering from his ankle injury.
A Fredriksen freekick stung the hands of Convey as Ben Clark closed down to strike on goal before Larkin was bundled to the ground inside the box and the referee awarded what was a soft penalty kick.
Jonny Rowell won the battle with Denis Behan to take the kick and the midfielder sent a well-taken penalty into the bottom left corner of the net, leaving Convey with no chance of saving.
Triallist Ashley Corker, who put in a comfortable display at left back, could have grabbed a goal for himself after a good through ball from Behan set him up to shoot - but the left back sent his shot over the bar.
Bradford City hit a late goal to narrow the deficit as Luke Sharry burst into the box from the left to send a good strike past Rafferty and into the bottom right corner of the net.
But West's men remained the strongest and were worthy of the victory, ending a strong season for the Reserves on a high note.
The result does return Pools back to the top of the Totesport.com league but Middlesbrough still have a fixture remaining and, should they win it, it will be Middlesbrough who finish in top spot.
Pools: Rafferty, Haslam, P Johnson, Clark, Corker, Larkin, Power, Rowell (Richards 86), Fredriksen (D Johnson 75), Greulich (Behan 56), Mackay
Subs Not Used- Herbert, Marron
Bradford City: Convey, Cutler (Flett 86), Blackman, Horne, Robinson, Dean, Sharry, Carson, Stephenson, Moke (Harrison 62) , Wilkinson
Subs Not Used: Cheetham, Forsyth, Lewis
