A breathtaking 78th minute goal from Martin Devaney earned Cheltenham Town their first away victory in Division Three since the first week of January this evening.
Devaney's goal, scored with superb trickery from the youngster after good build-up play by Julian Alsop and Tony Naylor, brought three points for the Robins at the end of a drab game which was spoiled by a strong wind blowing from one end of the ground to the other.
The Cheltenham team was unchanged from the side that defeated Carlisle United 2-0 on Saturday while Hartlepool selected the same line-up that had drawn 0-0 at Southend.
The Robins kicked off with a strong wind at their backs which made passing and control difficult. There were a number of occasions during the first half when strikers Tony Naylor and Neil Grayson made good runs onto passes from midfield but the ball simply ran away from them with the gusts behind it.
A very scrappy first 15 minutes brought very little in the way of goalmouth action and the pattern was only broken when a good Cheltenham move involving Martin Devaney and Tony Naylor set up Russell Milton for a shot that flashed just wide with goalkeeper Anthony Williams beaten.
Hartlepool went close to scoring in the 19th minute when former Sheffield Wednesday striker Richie Humphreys nodded the ball across goal and Kevin Henderson's header from point-blank range was well held by Steve Book.
Grayson spun on the edge of the box and fired wide before Lee Howells blasted a shot not far over the crossbar from 25 yards after Naylor had laid the ball back for him.
At that point mid-way through the first half it appeared that the first goal would not be long in coming but the stuffing was knocked out of the game by two lengthy stoppages for injuries to Hartlepool players.
First centre-back Graeme Lee was hurt in a challenge with Mark Yates and then Jamie Victory was fortune to escape without a booking for going in late on Henderson.
Henderson was carried off immediately, youngster Jermaine Easter took his place, and although Lee tried to play on he was unable to do so and was replaced by former Irish under-18 international Gordon Simms.
Neither side was able to lift the play above the intensely mediocre for the remainder of the first half until Book was forced to move sharply to hold an 18-yard shot from former Newcastle United midfielder Paul Stephenson.
Cheltenham suffered an injury setback of their own seven minutes into the second half when Grayson limped off to be replaced by Julian Alsop, and it was the giant striker who almost put the Robins ahead moments later when his flick-header from a Milton corner was headed off the line by Mark Tinkler.
Humphreys had a shot blocked by Howells but that was indicative of the way Cheltenham defended with organisation and commitment.
They kept things tight at the back and worked hard to close down space across the field so that as the game wore on it was Cheltenham who began to create the clearer scoring chances.
Naylor found Devaney in space but Simms did well to force him wide so that his shot went into the side netting, and then Williams flew to push aside a long range shot from Alsop.
Mark Tinkler should have done better with a 15-yard shot when he had more time than he realised but Devaney's moment of magic arrived 12 minutes from time to inject a sudden lift into what had until then been an ordinary game.
Alsop did well to control a ball from midfield before shuffling it aside to Naylor. His quick-thinking return ball was touched on by Alsop to Devaney 25 yards out but he still had plenty of work to do.
With a sudden burst of pace he slid between two defenders, switching the ball from one foot to the other before beating Williams with a driven low shot.
HARTLEPOOL UNITED: Williams; Bass, Lee (Simms 33), Sharp, Robinson; Stephenson, Widdrington (Clark 81), Tinkler, Clarke; Humphreys, Henderson (Easter 29). Subs: Hollund, Simms, Lormor, Easter.
CHELTENHAM TOWN: Book; M. Duff, Banks, Walker, Victory; Devaney (Brough 88), Yates, Howells, Milton; Naylor (Howarth 82), Grayson (Alsop 52). Subs: Hill, Muggleton.
REFEREE: M.S. Pike (Cumbria)
ATTENDANCE: 2,599