Hartlepool United cruise through to the FA Cup first round following 6-0 win at Ilkeston Town – draw time and ball number revealed

The 6-0 victory at Ilkeston Town on Saturday afternoon equalled Pools’ biggest-ever FA Cup victory away from home and banked the club a tidy £9,375 in prize money.

Dave Challinor's side went into the game at the New Manor Ground having not played since their goalless draw against Bromley 11 days prior.

The Pools boss made six changes to his starting line-up from that game as goalkeeper Henrich Ravas, Gary Liddle, Tom Crawford, Luke Molyneux, Mason Bloomfield and Joe Grey came in.

Ravas, Crawford and Grey all made their full debuts for the club while Molyneux was handed his first start of the season after recovering from coronavirus.

72 places separated the two sides in the football pyramid with Ilkeston plying their trade in the Northern Premier Division One South East, the eighth tier of English football.

And that gap was made apparent inside the opening 10-minutes as Grey played a clever through ball for Molyneux to subtly dink past Ilkeston goalkeeper Ross Durrant.

For the second season running, the former Sunderland winger had scored early in his first start of the campaign.

Moments later, Grey got in on the action as he turned in David Ferguson’s low cross to make it 2-0 – already, Pools had one foot in the first round.

Less than 10-minutes into his full professional debut and Grey had already bagged his first senior goal and assist for Hartlepool – breaking Trevor Smith’s record as the club’s youngest ever FA Cup goalscorer at age 17 years and 173 days in the process.

Any early match nerves or threat of a classic FA Cup shock were quickly put to bed by Hartlepool’s storming start to the game.

They didn’t let their foot off the gas either as Crawford tapped in from close range to make it 3-0 on his first start.

Chances continued to fall Pools’ way in the run-up to half-time but they couldn’t extend their lead further as the home side started to create some chances of their own.

The frame of the goal saw plenty of action at both ends of the field with Molyneux and Nicky Featherstone seeing efforts denied by the crossbar.

Ilkeston’s Alex Troke also hit the post twice before half-time as the sides went in at 3-0.

The next goal after the break would ultimately be the difference between Pools putting the game to bed or Ilkeston getting themselves back into it.

Minutes into the second period and Pools had already squandered two opportunities to grab a fourth through Molyneux and Bloomfield.

At the other end, Ravas was being called into action more frequently as Ilkeston started to throw caution to the wind and cause some problems.

But the introduction of debutant Josh MacDonald just after the hour mark injected more impetus into the attack to help put the game to bed. Just four minutes after being introduced, the 25-year-old pulled the ball back for Bloomfield to make it 4-0.

The goal marked the fourth time in Challinor’s 16 away matches as Hartlepool manager that the side had scored four or more goals on the road.

Shortly after that, MacDonald’s pace and tenacity launched a quick counter-attack for Pools as he fed the ball to Birthday boy David Parkhouse, who applied a clinical finish to make it five.

Top scorer Gavan Holohan, not wanting to miss out on the action, then hammered in Hartlepool’s sixth with a fine finish from 20-yards just before the full-time whistle.

And that was that – job done for Pools and they did it with a flourish in front of the BBC Sport cameras and the 400 Ilkeston fans in attendance.

Saturday's match, perhaps more than any for Pools so far this season, served as a painful reminder that as good as the team’s start has been, it feels incomplete without Poolies there to witness it.

It was Hartlepool’s first competitive match in front of a crowd since March and credit to the Ilkeston fans for maintaining a good atmosphere throughout the 90-minutes, despite the scoreline.

Social distancing reminders were issued over the PA throughout the afternoon though it’s questionable as to how much this was enforced.

But it also begs the question that if 400 fans are able to sit together for an FA Cup game at Ilkeston, why can’t Pools’ fans do the same at the significantly more spacious Victoria Park?

The fact that Pools have been granted £285,000 over the next three months to make up for lost matchday income will undoubtedly make things easier financially. But getting fans back into stadiums safely is crucial and the inconsistencies between the different levels in non-league football are the source of much frustration.

For now, attention turns to Monday night’s first-round draw which will be broadcast live on BT Sport at around 7:10pm.

Pools will be ball number 54 as they look to find out who they will face on the weekend of Saturday, November 7.

In normal circumstances, the prospect of being matched up against the likes of Sunderland or Ipswich Town would be exciting for Pools.

But if there's one season where you want to avoid those sort of teams, this is it. Without fans, the so-called ‘magic of the FA Cup’ isn’t quite there.

At the moment, the only benefit of drawing a big League One side is that it may be chosen for a live broadcast. Otherwise, you’re just being matched up against a side who will be well fancied to knock you out and deny the club chance of any further prize money.

The more lower-ranked teams Pools can get drawn against and play in front of crowds the better.

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