Promotion-chasing Saints, with nine away wins this season, rarely looked capable of adding to that tally as the hosts took the game to them in the second half.
Adkins said: "It was a bit of a frustrating game, coming to Hartlepool on a Tuesday evening in February.
"We had opportunities and we had to defend well in a tough game. A few situations arose which we didn't capitalise on. We always had a threat, but the conditions were not conducive for passing football.
"We wanted to pass and we did for 10 minutes at the start, then we had to stand up and they worked very hard to close us down.
"Their home form is good and it makes the game competitive, but I thought we could have been stronger in the second half."
Source: PA
Source: PA