ON David Hodgson's last visit to Victoria Park he was struck by a coin; his latest trip to Hartlepool probably hurt even more.
The Darlington boss saw his side have the better of the Carling Cup derby with their arch-rivals, but unlike that play-off semi-final of May 2000, he had nothing to show for it.
Pool started the game like Martin Scott demanded and controlled the opening 30 minutes.
A goal from Jon Daly was their only reward, but that was the signal for the visitors, facing Pool for the first time since April 2003, to take control.
However, for all their effort and possession, a single strike from Carlos Logan was all they had to show. Pool scored two more through substitue Michael Proctor to take the honours, with a somewhat flattering outcome securing a place in round two.
Proctor's goals were both straight forward finishes from close range, his first, to put Pool two in front, came after a slip from keeper Bert Bossu.
Bossu was on his way back to France when he received the call from Hodgson. He was on the Eurostar train at the time. Last night he was suffering from tunnel vision, regularly flapping at crosses.
Hodgson will hope Sam Russell has recovered from a calf strain for Saturday's trip to Chester, while Pool go to Huddersfield on the back of four unbeaten games.
Two minutes in and a short back pass from Matt Clarke had Bossu stretching to clear and the debutant's mis-hit kick fell kindly for the visitors. That set the tone for the big Frenchman.
Bossu had a nightmare on his debut for Accrington Stanley on Saturday, letting a speculative shot slip through his grasp. In front of his own fans in the first-half last night, he wanted a solid start.
Ritchie Humphreys and Gavin Strachan lost possession on halfway and Simon Johnson burst dangerously towards goal. His shot was blocked by Micky Nelson and the follow up front Jonjo Dickman was headed over for a corner.
Neill Collins cleared from the advancing Joey Hutchinson and Quakers kept Pool penned in, winning a free-kick on the corner of the penalty area, but Anthony Peacock's kick was wasted.
Adam Boyd crossed from deep and his searching ball had Hutchinson scrambled away for Pool's first-flag kick.
Boyd was sandwiched between two defenders out wide and won a free-kick. Humphreys' dead ball was met by Collins and Huchinson pushed off the line and into Boyd's path, but he poked his shot straight into the arms of Bossu.
Pool boss Martin Scott had demanded a bright start from his side after they had fell behind in their two previous home games this season and he got it, as they penned the visitors back.
Bossu went walkabout and missed his punch on the edge of the box, as the ball eventually went wide. Next time the ball went in the box, Bossu wasn't so fortunate.
Jon Daly and Joey Hutchinson tussled for possession, Bossu stayed deep and Daly poked the ball across the keeper's dive.
He might have been beaten, but the Frenchman still wasn't afraid of coming off his line, this time pawing away a deep Strachan ball which he could have comfortably caught.
Quakers' first shot on target came on the half-hour, Peacock shooting low from 20 yards and Dimi Konstantopoulos got down low to keep it out.
Quakers were incensed when Nelson cannonned a dead ball into Johnson, after the striker was felled by Collins. Ryan Valentine, sent off the last time the sides met, raced 60 yards to remonstrate. The pair were lectured by referee Nigel Miller.
From the free-kick, Clyde Wijnhard should have done better than fire straight at Konstantopoulos after getting goal side of Tony Sweeney.
This was Quakers' purple patch, with Pool scrambling the ball away in desperation only for it to keep coming back and the home side were happy to see Clarke's header bounce harmlessly wide.
Neil Wainwright should have levelled five minutes before the break. Johnson bundled Williams over and his cut-back found the unmarked winger, who horribly sliced his shot high and wide.
Hodgson's side continued to hold the upper hand and only a saving tackle by Humphreys right on edge of his own area halted Logan after he latched onto a Wijnhard's crossfield ball.
Pool were second best, as Quakers, backed by 756 supporters, made all the pressing and Pool striker Boyd, fresh from a day in court giving evidence after he was involved in a late night incident, was off the pace.
Konstantopoulos tapped the ball away under pressure inside his six yard box. The big Greek then stopped from Wijnhard, soon to be replaced by Akpo Sodje, but the offside flag offered some respite.
For the first time in 20 minutes, Pool broke forward and Bossu went some way to redeeming himself to tip Boyd's deflected shot over.
Proctor, on for Boyd, was booked for a foul on Shelton Martis, yet referee Nigel Miller didn't see the incident and was only alerted to it by his flagging assistant.
The Dutchman went off with an apparent back injury, with David Duke the replacement.
But Darlington's hopes were overthrown on 76 minutes.
Bossu was again badly at fault. He came charging out of his box to clear only smashed it into Hutcinson and Proctor was on hand to gleefully roll the ball into the empty net.
Johnson took out his frustration on Nelson and Williams and was booked for his troubles.
Logan grabbed one back soon after. The winger picked up a possession on the edge of the area and sloped a left foot shot across Konstantopoulos. It made for an interesting last nine minutes.
Logan went down inside the area looking for a penalty under a challenge from Williams, but referee Miller was having none of it.
And the lifeline was gone on 87 minutes. Proctor's shot was somehow saved by Bossu, Daly headed against the bar and Proctor bunded in the loose ball.
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