But it only came after Ian Baraclough and Cleveland Taylor came off the bench to add some crucial experience to the side.
Laws said: "We're disappointed with the manner of the first half, they were the better side and could have killed the game.
"But we rode our luck, and the two changes we made changed the game.
"Andy Parton wasn't at his best and got a bit of a knock, the front two weren't pressing the ball enough so I put Peter Till up front.
"I made six changes to the starting line-up, and it's inevitable that the side reflected that.
"Tommy Johnson had 90 minutes, I thought he played excellent link up and was reliable with the ball.
"Till got man of the match and deserved it, the link up was better between the pair of them in the second half.
"That was a major difference in the game, all of a sudden we pressed higher and got the ball into areas to hurt them.
"The performance didn't match what we want at the moment. But we've given the fringe players 90 minutes, which will help them tremendously towards match fitness and being ready when we need them."
Hartlepool boss Martin Scott said: "We were very positive for the first 45 minutes, caused Scunthorpe lots of problems and we should have had the lead after hitting the woodwork twice.
"We played some of our best football of the season in that period.
"Scunthorpe came back at us in the second half and the penalty changed the course of the game, I thought the sending off of Ben Clark was harsh."
