Hartlepool moved one step closer to promotion to Division Two with a comprehensive 4-1 win over Leyton Orient at Victoria Park.
After a string of recent setbacks, Hartlepool started the game like a train, and following a series of dangerous raids which had Orient reeling, they eventually took a ninth-minute lead.
Top scorer Eifion Williams created the goal when he latched onto a long throw on the right, cut inside and beat a defender before squaring a low ball for Mark Tinkler to bundle in from close-range for his 11th goal of the season.
But Orient threatened on the break, and after a couple of close shaves for the home defence, Hartlepool were lucky to escape on 31 minutes when Gary Alexander spotted home keeper Anthony Williams out of position and smacked his long-range shot against the base of the far post.
A goal rush in the second half brought the game to life as Hartlepool opened up a 3-1 lead, and they scored a fourth in the final minutes.
Big defender Graeme Lee powered home a header from a corner on the hour, but two minutes later Greg Heald nodded in a close-range score for Orient to give them some hope in only his second game for the club.
But on 64 minutes it was all over when sub Billy Jones pushed over Williams as the lively striker broke into the box, and Tinkler stoked home the penalty for his second of the match.
The fourth was scored by Darrell Clarke, whose shot squeezed over the line under the body of keeper Lee Harrison after all the donkey work was done by Ritchie Humphreys.
Hartlepool manager Mike Newell was relieved to get the three points and said after the game: "This was a very important win for us, and I was delighted with the performance the players put in.
"Teams have been making all our games difficult in the last few weeks, and this was no exception. But our first goal early in the game was vitally important, and we built our game up from there." Orient boss Paul Brush was disappointed with the result, and insisted: "For two thirds of the game we were well in it and created seven or eight good chances.
"But Hartlepool are a good side and they punished us in the end. Their penalty was a harsh decision, I felt, and the players tell me their first goal was scored with the hand.
"But we have to pick ourselves up and recover from blows like this."