Curle hails soaring Magpies

Notts County manager Keith Curle was delighted with how his team coped with wretched conditions at Meadow Lane to overcome a poor Hartlepool side 2-0.

A header by Francois Zoko put County ahead after 17 minutes, his second goal in two starts for his new side, before captain Neal Bishop sealed the win late on with a cool finish. Monsoon-like conditions prior to kick-off and throughout the first 15 minutes left the pitch waterlogged but playable and Curle praised his team's efforts. He said: "It was a professional performance - credit to the players they were attuned to what we wanted them to do. "We are trying to build a mentality of confidence and of playing in the right areas. "Obviously sometimes when you are watching on the sidelines you see a back-pass to the keeper and you are thinking don't hit a puddle, don't hit a puddle, but we adapted to that as well."