ANYONE who has questioned the Cherries players' character and desire to get themselves out of Division Three at the first attempt should have been at Dean Court on Sunday.

It was an afternoon when Sean O'Driscoll's boys showed both traits in great abundance, plus plenty of skill, to end top-of-the-table Hartlepool's club record 11-game unbeaten away league run.

And Cherries had to do it the hard way, coming from behind after gifting United a 17th-minute goal netted by Eifion Williams and missing a first-half penalty through Wade Elliott.

Elliott, ironically, equalised for Cherries just after the hour with his first goal in open play for more than a year.

Then, as 10-man Hartlepool - who had Micky Barron sent off following a straight red card in the 20th minute - tired late on, substitute Steve Fletcher pressurised Tommy Widdrington into netting an 85th-minute own goal.

Those are the stark facts from an enthralling game battled out on a rain saturated pitch in high force winds in front of Sky Sports' live cameras.

But what you can't glean from those simple facts are just how deep O'Driscoll's boys had to dig to get themselves out of their own self-inflicted troubles in front of their biggest home crowd of the season - 5,998.

Cherries really had to dig deep, and I mean really deep, against a well-drilled Hartlepool team that was brimming with the confidence which comes from being league leaders.

The triumph, Cherries' third in a row, stretched their unbeaten run to five, and lifted them to fourth in the table - only one point behind United, who remain top despite their reversal yesterday.

It also means Cherries have now collected 13 points out of a possible 15 and can be considered genuine title contenders, if they hadn't been already.

However, at 17 minutes past three yesterday it looked completely unlikely that O'Driscoll's team would have had 23 points, one less than United's 24, today.

That's because Marcus Browning's horrendous misplaced header back simply gifted Hartlepool the lead completely against the early run of play and put them totally on the back foot.

Cherries, with midfielder Carl Fletcher partnering Karl Broadhurst in central defence because of injuries to Shaun Maher and Jason Tindall, had been relatively untroubled up until then.

Browning must have been caught in two minds as, just outside of his own penalty area, he appeared to have time to bring a loose ball down and knock it clear, or simply head it away.

Instead, he tried to head back to his own goalkeeper Neil Moss only for the ball to fall straight into the path of Hartlepool striker Eifion Williams.

He quickly controlled it on the right and curled a superb shot beyond Moss and in off the far post.

It was a neatly taken goal by Hartlepool's leading scorer, Williams' seventh of the season, and it silenced an expectant Dean Court crowd.

Cherries were quickly given a life line, though, when Hartlepool defender Barron rashly brought down striker James Hayter deep inside his own six-yard box as the Bournemouth man lined up to shoot.

It was a clear-cut penalty and Hartlepool United boss Chris Turner had no qualms with the red card referee Mike Thorpe chose to show Barron.

But Elliott's spot-kick lacked the direction and power to truly test Hartlepool custodian Anthony Williams, who dived to his left and smothered the ball quite comfortably.

It was then that most Cherries fans must have felt their side were going to waste a golden opportunity to beat the league leaders on their own patch against 10 men.

O'Driscoll and his boys felt differently though and they stormed back into control early in the second half.

Cherries - with playmaker Brian Stock knocking the ball around delightfully in midfield and Browning, noticeably not knocked out of his stride following his earlier lapse, also to the fore - pushed Hartlepool back.

And it was no surprise when the home side equalised.

The leveller came in the 61st minute following Stock's deep cross from the left.

Pinball took place at the far post before Elliott took charge inside the six-yard area and acrobatically hooked the ball past Anthony Williams from an acute angle.

Hartlepool's 'keeper saved brilliantly from Alan Connell's deft close-range touch following another razor sharp cross from Stock two minutes later as Cherries forged forward looking for a second goal.

But they had to wait until five minutes from the end before making the breakthrough.

It was almost God-given that Steve Fletcher, continuing his comeback from long-term injury, would play a major role in the goal.

He came on as a 71st-minute substitute for Hayter, who had performed well but run himself ragged up front alongside Connell.

Fletcher, who began his career with Hartlepool, his hometown club, immediately caused problems with his aerial presence.

However, it was his pressure on the ground which led to Chris Westwood hammering an attempted clearance against his own team-mate Widdrington, with the loose ball cannoning past a helpless Anthony Williams into Hartlepool's net.

Big Fletch milked the occasion to the full as he ran to the North Stand faithful with his arms raised in salute of the goal.

The goal, however, was attributed as a Widdrington og, and led to chants of "We are going up" from the Cherries faithful.

Cherries substitute Garreth O'Connor almost made it three in added time for stoppages when he weaved through into Hartlepool's box only to see Anthony Williams push his shot onto the far post.

O'Driscoll's boys survived an even later scare when Kevin Henderson fell inside Cherries' box under a strong challenge from a defender, only for referee Thorpe to wave play on.

But Cherries were full value for their win. And Hartlepool had no complaints with defeat as they made their long motorway journey home.