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Hartlepool win gives Moore hope

Image: Ronnie Moore: We've given fans hope

Ronnie Moore said his bottom-of-the-table Hartlepool had given their fans even more hope after a 2-0 win over Oxford at the Kassam.

Pool followed up their 1-0 win at Morecambe last Saturday with a deserved victory over an United side that had only conceded one goal in their previous five matches. Ryan Bird fired them in front in the 33rd minute and Neil Austin made it two six minutes after the break, hitting home a rebound after U's goalkeeper Ryan Clarke saved Bird's penalty. A delighted Moore said: "Last Saturday we gave people hope, and with this we've given everybody more hope. Now let's see what we can do at home. "We've worked really hard. Back-to-back away wins is fantastic. "These have been two really tough games, and we've kept two clean sheets, which has been brilliant. "I don't think they (Oxford) can complain too much about the result. "I'm glad Bird scored because he and Franks have been unbelievable in the last couple of games with their workrate, and their closing down, and it's rubbed off on all the others." Moore admitted: "I couldn't look for the penalty. "I don't know who worked out who should take it. Birdy decided in the end and stepped up, but I couldn't look! "I heard a cheer from their crowd ?at the penalty save], and then I turned around and saw that we were all celebrating. "But it a fantastic result. We had to play 10 minutes of stoppage time, after the referee was stretchered off, but I thought we saw that out quite comfortably." Oxford were booed off for losing at home to the bottom club, but U's head coach Michael Appleton stressed: "I can't fault my players' effort, or their attitude. "I can maybe fault their finishing, and possibly the quality of some of the crosses coming in. "We're only blaming ourselves for the result, but we're not going to get carried away with this defeat. "We've done well for five games, and had taken nine points from that, which was a good return. "For the penalty, Ryan Clarke did ever so well, and we have to react better than that to get to the ball." Appleton came in for criticism from home fans for taking off youngster Callum O'Dowda. But he defended his action, saying: "I took Callum off because he was absolutely shattered." O'Dowda had gone closest to scoring for Oxford, with a first-half header that came back off the post.

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