Sheffield Wednesday dominated here at Victoria Park to seal a comfortable 5-0 victory and give Pools plenty to work on.
Pools were brought back to earth with a bump in the opening ten minutes here at The Vic. Two goals - both masterminded by the dominant Neil Mellor - inside the first ten put Mick Wadsworth's side firmly on the back foot and with lots of work to do.
The visitors looked strong from the off, with Mellor in particular a real threat up front, his physical presence proved just too much for Pools at the back and the big forward played a part in every attacking move.
Within minutes of the kick off, Scott Flinders had parried an effort from Marcus Tudgay, which Joe Gamble then cleared off the line but Pools were not so lucky with The Owls' next attack in the 8th minute.
Mellor burst down the left flank, brushing Gamble out of his path and powering into the box to square a ball across the face of goal. As the ball was crossed, Paul Murray arrived inside the box to attempt a clearance but his contact with the pacy cross only served to direct the ball past Flinders and into the back of the net with some speed.
Worse was to come for Pools as the visitors grabbed a second just two minutes later; a break down the right by Wednesday saw the busy Melor pick up the ball just outside the box and in plenty of space. The on-loan striker cut inside and put another good ball into the box, and this time it was Giles Coke who arrived just on time to volley home and make it 2-0.
While Pools struggled to put show their creative spark of recent weeks, heads did not go down and there were a few chances at the other end to test Wednesday stopper Nicky Weaver.
A good run down the left wing from the lively Antony Sweeney saw the midfielder whip a great ball into the box, which eventually found Murray on the edge of the area. Murray fired a low drive through the crowd but saw his effort go just wide of the left hand post.
A long freekick from Evan Horwood from the half-way line caused problems in the box for Wednesday when Adam Boyd took control and flicked the ball nicely into the path of Tony Sweeney - he was in a good position to head at goal but got underneath it and saw his effort go high over the bar.
With 23 minutes on the clock though, the visitors made things even harder for Pools when Mellor finally added his own name to the scoresheet after setting up the first two goals.
A brave challenge from Sam Collins was picked up by Darren Potter who fed it through for Mellor and he made no mistake with a powerful strike past Flinders to make it 3-0.
Pools look rattled at the back for a spell and another goal for the visitors looked a distinct possibility but once again, Wadsworth's men regained their composure and mounted a couple of challenges of their own before the break.
Horwood sent a great curling ball into the box which found Sweeney pushing for a chance at the far post but the midfielder was beaten to it by Mark Beevers who popped up with a strong defensive header.
A long Sam Collins throw found Joe Gamble arriving on the edge of the area but he saw his low drive blocked inside the box and Pools went into the break with a three-goal deficit to overturn.
Wadsworth changed things round at half time, introducing Fabian Yantorno to the action in place of Paul Murray and the Uruguayan forward went close to grabbing a goal.
Yantorno picked up the ball to the left of the area and sent a cheeky flick at goal but Weaver reacted quickly and held the effort.
Sheffield Wednesday took their foot off the pedal in the second half and the final forty-five was played out at a slower tempo than the first.
But there were still chances for the visitors to add to their tally. Gary Teale burst down the right, to play Giles Coke on and he sent a teasing ball into the box which narrowly missed the arrivingNeil Mellor at the far post.
Andy Monkhouse tried to lift Pools with a quality volleyed effort from 20 yards but his perfectly-hit strike was blocked by Weaver who pulled out the acrobatics to deny the goal.
Wednesday added icing on their cake with a fourth goal in the 72nd minute; Mellor ran through one-on-one with Flinders and when the Pools keeper went down to block, Mellor fell in the challenge and referee Mr Swarbrick awarded the penalty.
Marcus Tudgay stepped up and put the ball past Filnders and into the bottom corner to make it a convincing 4-0.
Yantorno sent a freekick in from the left in the dying minutes which was held by the outstretched Weaver but there were no breakthroughs for Pools.
To Pools' credit, they continued to battle to the very end, pushing on when possible and defending in numbers but the early dominance from Wednesday was too much to overturn.
And with 92 minutes on the clock, Clinton Morrison sent a great strike into the top right corner of the net to round things up at 5-0.
Next up for Pools is a midweek Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie with Northampton Town and Wadsworth will be looking for his team to bounce back quickly.
Att: 4084
Bookings: Pools: Monkhouse (70), Flinders (73), McSweeney (87) Sheffield Wednesday: Beevers (54)
Pools: Flinders, Haslam, Collins, Liddle, Horwood, Sweeney, Murray (Yantorno 46), Gamble, Brown (McSweeney 77), Boyd (Hartley 68), Monkhouse
Subs Not Used: Rafferty, McSweeney, Fredriksen, Behan, Larkin
Sheffield Wednesday: Weaver, Spurr, Buxton, Purse, Tudgay, Coke (Miller 76), Potter, Beevers, Teale (O'Connor 63), Sedgwick, Mellor (Morrison 75)
Subs Not Used: Miller, Heffernan, Jones, Jameson, Otsemobor
