HARTLEPOOL boss Neale Cooper hailed hot prospect Luke James after the youngster's man-of- the-match performance ran Carlisle ragged.

The 17-year-old scored twice and caused the visiting defence all sorts of problems throughout as Hartlepool’s revival under the second coming of Cooper took another step in the right direction.

Antony Sweeney and Colin Nish grabbed the other goals to complete a horrific day for Carlisle, who also had Lee Miller controversially sent off by referee Robert Madley.

Cooper, though, was amazed at the rapid progress made by James in his fledgling career, putting it down to his attitude and lack of fear.

He said: “He is just a wee boy. He has won man of the match again and that is him now with a box of sweeties and a bottle of milk!

“In all seriousness, he has earned it for his hard work.

“He combines his training with going to college on a Friday afternoon ­– which I know he does not like but he has to do it.

“Preferably it would be nice if he was resting. However, he has a lot of energy – a bit like Paul Sweeney who just never seems to tire.

“Nothing fazes him. He always has a smile on his face.

“As for his all-round performance, we were looking to try and turn their centre-halves with his pace.

“I played at centre-half myself and I tell Luke the one thing I hated was a boy his size running into the corners.

“When I played the game, I would like marking somebody I could go and win the ball against. What I don’t like is when I have to chase somebody like Luke.

“Luke did that today and if you noticed as the game went on the big man (Lubo Michalik) was dropping 15 yards off him so then we changed our play and got the ball to Luke’s feet.”