An 80th minute wonder strike by subsitiute Scott Wagstaff was enough to grant Charlton all three points at a bitterly cold Valley.
The game saw mistakes made by both sides throughout as Hartlepool struggled to attack and Charlton continued to make needless mistakes.
The scoring was opened by David Mooney who got on the end of a Grant Basey cross, after some great passing down the left flank between Basey and Shelvey.
Charlton should have extended their lead, but could not do enough to trouble Flinders in the Hartlepool goal.
The visitors drew level in the 2nd half after Miguel Llera made a sloppy tackle inside the box and gifted a penalty to Behan which he managed to just convert past Rob Elliot.
Hartlepool were happy to play the game out for a draw, but inspired substitutions by Phil Parkinson made sure this would not happen.
Three minutes after coming on from the bench Scott Wagstaff picked up the ball and drilled it into the bottom corner from 25 yards out.
So the Addicks left The Valley with all 3 point and feeling optimistic as the Sky cameras and Leyton Orient visit SE7 for the next fixture on Monday night.