Luke Armstrong scored the only goal of the game as Hartlepool moved up to second in the Vanarama National League with a 1-0 victory at fellow promotion hopefuls Notts County who finished with 10 men.

The decisive moment came in the 19th minute as Rhys Oates beat Richard Brindley on the left before a low cross was turned in by on-loan Salford striker Armstrong.

Oates then rifled over from a good position after the interval but the hosts gradually started to assert themselves and Ruben Rodrigues struck a post before Michael Doyle missed the target with the follow-up.

County continued to push for a leveller but they had Ben Turner sent off after a high tackle on Mason Bloomfield. Substitute Jimmy Knowles had the ball in the back of the net late on but an offside flag thwarted the Magpies.