NINE points from nine games in Mad March has hardly left Cherries on cloud nine.

And if anything, the month's yield has left Sean O'Driscoll's charges and their followers facing something of an Anxious April.

But only the 214 fiercely-dedicated Cherries fans who embarked on a near 20-hour trek to the North East will know just how close their heroes came to giving their promotion hopes a real shot in the arm.

It had been well worth leaving Dean Court at 6am and returning just as the clocks went forward the following day to witness Cherries' Herculean effort against the league leaders.

To a man, the vociferous visiting supporters seemed to be kicking every ball, making every tackle and disputing every penalty decision as O'Driscoll's boys laid siege to the Pools goal for 75 minutes.

There were numerous talking points to keep them occupied on the eight-hour coach journey back to the south coast and as Steve Fletcher quite rightly pointed out after the final whistle had sounded "you just had to see it to believe it".

Marcus Browning neatly summed up the proceedings when he said he felt Cherries had "battered" Hartlepool before describing the number of chances the visitors had created as "unbelievable".

But as the influential midfielder went on to say after Cherries had failed to find the net for the sixth time in their last 10 away games, their biggest downfall on the road in recent weeks has been there for all to see.

"We just can't seem to convert the chances at the moment," said Browning, a veteran of promotion and play-off campaigns with both Bristol Rovers and Gillingham.

Even Pools boss Mike Newell admitted he had been relieved to see the Teessiders preserve their six-month unbeaten home record in the face of such a sustained onslaught.

Cherries have won more friends than they have points with their free-flowing football on their travels and this latest showing certainly impressed well respected journalists Peter Gardiner and Peter Slater.

The visitors' magnificent first-half display was the talk of the press box at the interval with Gardiner, observing on behalf of The Daily Telegraph, curious to know how Pools were top of the league and why Bournemouth were in the bottom flight in the first place.

Slater, meanwhile, was promoted to cover this top-of-the-table clash for BBC Radio Five Live in between slumming it at Grand Prix in Australia, Malaysia and Brazil and he too extolled Cherries' virtues as Pools played second fiddle for long periods.

However, despite the lavish praise, Cherries boss O'Driscoll scotched suggestions he would have settled for a share of the spoils before kick-off when he said afterwards: "I would have settled for three points even if we had been bombarded for 90 minutes, but you can't plan for that.

"I said to the boys before the game that people say it's all about results now instead of performances, but you can't plan for playing absolute rubbish and winning 1-0. How do you do that?"

The tone was set when Wade Elliott, restored to the Cherries starting line-up at the expense of Brian Stock, wasted a great chance to put Garreth O'Connor in the clear when his cross from the right failed to find the Irishman after just two minutes.

O'Driscoll's side made all the early running as the league leaders rarely managed to get over the halfway line in the opening stages, although Pools goalkeeper Anthony Williams was tested by no more than half chances.

Despite dominating possession, the visitors were thankful to Neil Moss for palming away an effort from Gordon Watson after the one-time Cherries striker tried his luck from the edge of the box.

Cherries hit back when Williams saved somewhat extravagantly after James Hayter had met Warren Cummings's cross with a goalbound header before Clarke's 20-yard drive took a deflection off Carl Fletcher for a corner.

Elliott, who gave Pools left-back Mark Robinson a testing first half, went close to opening the scoring in the 29th minute, but hooked the ball the wrong side of the post after Steve Fletcher had nodded Steve Purches's cross into his path.

Steve Fletcher, often in the thick of the action against his former club, saw a looping header drift inches wide of the upright following a centre from Purches.

Moss then came to Cherries' rescue and also spared his own blushes at the same time when he punched a clearance straight at Clarke before pulling off a superb reaction save after the Pools midfielder had returned the ball on the volley.

But it was Cherries who looked the more likely of the two sides to break the deadlock and Elliott was again unlucky to see his curling left-foot effort from the edge of the box just clear the crossbar.

O'Connor twice went close for Cherries at the start of the second half, but his first effort was pouched by Williams before his second, following neat link play with Hayter, flew narrowly wide of the woodwork.

Moss was quickly off his line to smother at the feet of Eifion Wil-liams and, although the ball ran loose in the danger area, Lewis Buxton was on hand to clear his lines. Williams, who had hardly had a sniff in the first half, then stung Moss's hands with a fierce right-foot drive after he had got in behind the visitors defence for the first time, but the Cherries goalkeeper kept out the Welshman's shot.

Elliott came within a coat of paint of giving Cherries the lead in the 70th minute when he smashed the ball against the crossbar from close range after Steve Fletcher had outjumped the Pools defence to flick Cummings's deep centre across the face of the goalmouth.

As Cherries piled forward relentlessly, Lady Luck kept deserting them and Steve Fletcher saw another goalbound effort blocked on the line after substitute Scott McDonald had picked him out with a square ball from the by-line.

McDonald then wriggled free of his marker after chasing down a hooked clearance from O'Connor, but his chance of debut glory was thwarted when Williams saved his resultant shot from the edge of the box.

In a rare Pools foray on the Cherries goal, Watson thought he had given the hosts the lead six minutes from time, only for his effort to be ruled out for offside.

And in the dying seconds, Moss distinguished himself by pulling off the save of the match, brilliantly tipping Mark Tinkler's stunning volley from 30 yards over his crossbar.