Hartlepool United 4 Northampton Town 0
A FOUR-goal blitz inside 10 minutes sent Hartlepool United through to the Johnstone's Paint Trophy second round after a 4-0 win over Northampton Town.
Pools had been frustrated in their attempts to find a breakthrough for more than an hour – James Brown going closest with a header off the underside of the woodwork.
But following Evan Horwood's first goal for his hometown club, Pools were rampant inside a 10-minute spell.
Tony Sweeney doubled the advantage from Horwood's clever free-kick before Andy Monkhouse drilled home from just inside the area.
Substitute Denis Behan completed the scoring with his first of the season just moments after entering the action.
Mick Wadsworth made the shock decision to name an unchanged side for the sixth game in a row after he had been expected to give the likes of Adam Boyd, James Brown and Paul Murray a breather.
Northampton made four changes, including a first start of the season for first-choice keeper Chris Dunn.
James Brown drew an excellent save out of Northampton keeper Chris Dunn with just 13 seconds on the clock after the Pools striker was given too much room 25 yards out.
Brown's shot swerved in the air and Dunn had to readjust before tipping it over the bar.
Dunn was again called into action in the 14th minute when Joe Gamble's inswinging free-kick from the left came through a crowd of bodies and seemed to be heading for the far corner only for the Northampton keeper to push it behind at the last minute.
The Northampton stopper almost handed Pools the lead in the 29th minute after Adam Boyd chested the ball down with his back to goal, 12 yards out, and struck an overhead kick.
The shot lacked power but Dunn failed to gather it cleanly and just managed to paw the ball away as Tony Sweeney descended on goal to pounce.
Moments later, Boyd had a shout for a penalty as he sent a header wide from six yards when right-back Paul Rodgers appeared to be clambering over the Pools striker's back.
Northampton had a goal disallowed in the 34th minute after Abdul Osman headed Kevin Thornton's corner into the net off the underside of the bar.
But referee Robert Madley ruled the goal out with Osman accused of pushing Gary Liddle.
Northampton had a double escape in the 39th minute after Andy Monkhouse's whipped cross was met at the far post by Brown whose bullet header crashed off the underside of the bar and bounced out.
The rebound came to Tony Sweeney, six yards out, whose overhead kick was bound for the far corner only to be cleared off the line by Marcus Hall.
HALF-TIME Pools 0 Northampton 0
Liddle saw his header cleared off the line by Seb Harris in the 63rd minute after the Pools defender had met Joe Gamble's left wing corner at the far post.
The breakthrough for Pools finally came in the 66th minute after Boyd collected the ball with his back to goal on the left-hand side of the area.
Boyd swept the ball to the far right of the box where HORWOOD was completely unmarked and sent a half-volley into the top corner.
Three minutes later, Horwood made to shoot from a free-kick 25 yards out.
But Horwood played a clever reverse ball down the right-hand side of the wall which SWEENEY ran onto and swept the ball under Dunn.
The third arrived in the 71st minute when MONKHOUSE drilled the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the area after Northampton failed to clear their lines.
Four minutes later, substitute Denis BEHAN toe-poked the ball past Dunn after latching onto Horwood's free-kick from deep.
FULL-TIME Pools 4 Northampton 0
Pools: Flinders, Haslam, Collins, Liddle, Horwood, Murray (Humphreys 76), Sweeney, Gamble, Monkhouse, Brown (Behan 71), Boyd (Yantorno 67). Subs not used: McSweeney, Fredriksen.
Northampton: Dunn, Rodgers, Hall (Beckwith 81), Thornton (McKay 67), Osman, Guinan, Holt, Wedderburn, Herbert (Davis 60), Jacobs, Harris. Subs not used: Jansson, Beckwith. Booked: Jacobs (59)
Referee: Robert Madley (West Yorkshire)
Attendance: 1,359 (59 away)
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Friday 10 February 2012
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