Barnet 1 - 3 Hartlepool United FC: Lewis Hawkins brace earns Hartlepool vital victory at Barnet

Lewis Hawkins' first professional goals helped struggling Hartlepool ease their relegation worries as they came from behind to beat Barnet 3-1.

The 22-year-old midfielder produced two fantastic first-half strikes in reply to Fumnaya Shomotun's opener for the Bees before Nathan Thomas sealed victory to move Pools five points clear of the League Two relegation zone.

Teenage midfielder Shomotun rifled his first senior goal into the top-left corner from 20 yards after 11 minutes as the hosts began brightly.

Hawkins then turned the game in the away side's favour, finding the top-left corner with an unstoppable 35-yard drive after 34 minutes before curling into the top-right corner from the edge of the box six minutes later.

Pools wrapped up their first away success since mid-October 17 minutes after the restart when winger Thomas collected the ball on the right corner of the Barnet penalty box and curled a left-footed shot into the far corner.

Bees substitute Mathew Stevens almost pulled one back in added-on time but his close-range header was saved by visiting keeper Trevor Carson.