DOWN the years, the vagaries of the FA Cup have never been lost on Sunderland fans.

From the unimaginable humiliation of defeat by Southern League Yeovil in 1949 to the impossible dream of beating Don Revie's Leeds United in the 1973 final, the world's oldest cup competition has provided Wearside with the ultimate in highs and lows.

This afternoon at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland must deal with a little local difficulty when humble neighbours Hartlepool United arrive for their big day out. It's a classic third-round tie and an occasion that 9,000 or so Pool followers - and no doubt a few unwelcome interlopers from Newcastle - will revel in whatever the outcome.

Victory for Neale Cooper's side would not only mark the proudest day in Hartlepool's distinctly undistinguished history.

It would also confirm their remarkable resurrection from the most recent time, around a decade ago, that they were almost submerged by the type of debts currently threatening the existence of deadly rivals Darlington.

Defeat for Mick McCarthy's Sunderland would heap even greater ignominy on a football public who have been forced to endure more than their fair share of embarrassments in the past two seasons.

A home FA Cup fourth-round defeat by Watford was followed by relegation from the Premiership with a record-low points total, and this season has witnessed elimination from the Carling Cup on Wearside at the hands of Huddersfield.

Sunderland, of course, are a club with debts themselves - £36m worth at the last count - and they could do with a money-spinning cup run.

The Black Cats, with a squad ravaged by injuries and the suspension of striker Kevin Kyle, are it seems already running scared; club captain Jason McAteer, their most experienced player, has admitted he would rather be tackling Goliath than David. McAteer would have preferred to have been entertaining Liverpool, the club with whom he collected a loser's medal in 1996, and not the Pool from down the road. But it could have been worse. Sunderland might have had to undertake the journey the men from Anfield face tomorrow afternoon - a trip to Yeovil.

Huish Park hosts the tie of the round, the one that truly evokes memories of the cup's greatest acts of giant-killing.

The Match of the Day cameras will be there, just as they were when Hereford beat Newcastle in that iconic cup tie at Edgar Street a frightening 32 years ago, to see if Yeovil's yokels can emulate the heroes of yesteryear.

It's close to 55 years since a Sunderland side, featuring, among others, the incomparable talents of Len Shackleton, were beaten 2-1 in a fourth-round tie on the infamous sloping pitch at Yeovil's former ground.

Now, it falls to Gary Johnson, who in an advisory role helped mastermind little Latvia's shock Euro 2004 qualification at the expense of Turkey, to plot another improbable stuffing and turn the heat up on Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier to a new level.