Former Norwich City striker Mason Bloomfield speaks of his 'relief' after scoring his first goal for Hartlepool United in 6-0 FA Cup win at Ilkeston Town

The Pools forward scored the side’s fourth goal in a 6-0 FA Cup fourth qualifying round victory at the New Manor Ground.

And after missing chances prior to finding the net, Bloomfield admitted: “It was a relief to score.

"I was telling their defender that it’s just not my day. I came in at half-time happy for the team and everyone who scored but at the same time thinking that I had to get one for myself in the second and thankfully it came eventually.

Pools stormed into an early lead with Luke Molyneux and Joe Grey finding the net inside the opening eight minutes before Tom Crawford made it 3-0 midway through the first half.

“It was brilliant to get that start," Bloomfield added. “We could have came here and not put our all in by thinking the game is already won by us turning up but we arrived with an intent about us to win.

"We didn’t just want to win, we wanted to really win convincingly by five or six as we did.

“It felt strange to be back in front of a crowd but I loved it, even having fans shouting at you is part of the game and it’s sad that our fans couldn’t be here but I feel like that would have really added a lot to the atmosphere.

"We want to get as far as possible in the competition, the final may be a bit too ambitious but we’ll see what the draw brings.”

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