Hartlepool United 2-2 Wycombe Wanderers: Analysis of a classic FA Cup tie at Victoria Park with Pools' ball number and second round draw time revealed

After a turbulent seven days which saw Pools lose 5-0 at Leyton Orient and Dave Challinor leave his role as manager to join Stockport County, Pools bounced back well at Victoria Park.

Mark Cullen put the hosts deservedly ahead at the break before Chris Forino equalised for Wycombe in the second half.

Luke Molyneux then quickly restored Pools' lead before Joe Jacobson converted from the penalty spot to force a replay.

A point to prove

Pools – without a manager and with a humiliating defeat still fresh in everyone’s minds – had a point to prove against a side who are competing for promotion back to the Championship.

On paper it was their toughest test of the season so far.

Sweeney made seven changes from the side that beat Everton under-21s in the Papa John's Trophy in midweek but only one change from the 5-0 defeat at Orient in League Two last Saturday as the 3-5-2 formation remained.

Neill Byrne came in for Zaine Francis-Angol as the sole change from the Orient match while Pools' bench looked considerably different.

Teenage goalkeeper Patrick Boyes was named on the bench for the first time due to Ben Killip's persisting quadricep injury.

While Wycombe only named six players on their bench, Hartlepool named nine with Will Goodwin back as a substitute after missing the Orient game and starting in midweek.

The match got off to a fairly slow start for both sides. Wycombe applied pressure early on but Pools were able to deal with it well.

The first big chance of the game fell to Molyneux after 10-minutes as he latched onto a miss-timed defensive header which saw him through on goal. With the angle against him but Adam Przybek off his line, Pools' number 10 attempted an ambitious lob only for it to fall kindly to the Wycombe goalkeeper.

Former Burnley striker Sam Vokes came close for The Chairboys at the other end before Pools started to assert their dominance against their third tier counterparts.

The magic of The Vic continues

Pools’ ridiculous form at Victoria Park had been highlighted by Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth ahead of the match – after all they had won 22 of their last 26 home matches.

Ainsworth expected a challenge and that's exactly what he got.

The 4,271 supporters in the ground were at it from the start and the Pools players were coming to life on the field. This didn’t appear to be a club coming apart at the seams – it was business as usual on Clarence Road.

Molyneux shot just over the crossbar after some good work by Pools’ breakout star in recent weeks, Reagan Ogle.

Even though the score remained goalless, a shell-shocked Wycombe were already trying to limit Pools and run the clock down with less than half an hour played.

Cullen then fired over after another swift attacking move from Pools. Their performance was only lacking a goal.

And on the stroke of half-time, that’s exactly what it got as the wily Matty Daly displayed some fine footwork before releasing Cullen down the right side of the penalty area. The Pools number 9 made no mistake as he pulled out his ‘Alan Shearer’ celebration to mark his fourth goal in his last four starts.

The lead was no less than Pools deserved and gave them some momentum to build on going into the second half.

A classic cup tie

The second 45-minutes saw the game turn into a quintessential FA Cup first round tie.

Pools continued to make their League One opponents look ordinary as they pushed for a second goal.

Wycombe still posed a threat, however, as Neill Byrne had to be well positioned to make an important block to deny Vokes following Sulley Kai Kai’s ball into the box.

Molyneux remained lively and came close to turning Ogle’s fine ball into the box into Pools' second.

But just past the hour mark, Wycombe found an equaliser.

Full debutant Forino headed Curtis Thompson’s cross into the ground from close range as it bounced into the left side of the goal.

It felt like a real blow for Pools, who could have put the game to bed in the opening 15-minutes of the second half.

Yet the game would only remain 1-1 for less than two minutes as some more clever creative play from Daly set up Molyneux to smash home his fourth goal of the season to restore Pools’ advantage.

Just over three months into the season and the 23-year-old is already enjoying his best goalscoring campaign of his career.

Puzzling penalty

With less than 20-minutes remaining, Pools goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell clashed with Forino after the Wycombe man had headed the ball over the crossbar.

It was a needless charge from Mitchell as the referee Darren Drysdale was swarmed by the protesting Wycombe players as the whole of Victoria Park awaited the verdict.

Instead of making a decision himself, the referee consulted the linesman on the opposite side of the pitch, who was positioned at least 50-yards from where the incident took place.

After some deliberation, a penalty was then awarded and converted by Jacobson to level the score once again.

Sweeney summed the incident up well after the game by questioning why the referee sought the opinion of someone who was in a significantly worse position than he was. There appeared to be some guesswork involved, even if it ended up being the correct decision.

The final 16-minutes of the game saw both sides push for a winner, keen to avoid a replay, but it ended 2-2.

Pools now face a long midweek trip to Buckinghamshire in order to progress with a match date yet to be confirmed.

Crucially, they remain in the hat as ball number 29 in Monday night’s second round draw from 9:30pm on ITV4.

Pools XI: Mitchell; Ogle (Odusina 90), Byrne, Liddle, Hendrie, Ferguson; Featherstone, Daly, Holohan (Shelton 77); Molyneux, Cullen (Grey 77)

Pools subs: Boyes, Odusina, Francis-Angol, Shelton, Jones, Crawford, Grey, Fondop, Goodwin

Pools bookings: Daly (71), Mitchell (73), Liddle (78)

Wycombe XI: Przybek; Jacobson, Gape (Mehmeti 70), Wheeler, Thompson, Vokes (Hanlan 84), Kai Kai (Scowen 70), Horgan (De Barr 90), Obita, McCarthy, Forino

Wycombe subs: Hanlan, Mehmeti, Scowen, De Barr, Pendlebury, Parsons

Wycombe bookings: Jacobson (69), Obita (83), Horgan (85)

Referee: Darren Drysdale

Attendance: 4,271 (186 Wycombe)

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