A Damien Duff hat-trick was the undoing of Pools after a very bright start from Danny Wilson's men.

Matty Robson gave Pools a deserved lead but Kevin Keegan's side proved too strong in the end, running out 4-1 winners.

Pools started this afternoon's game with Newcastle United very brightly and dominated proceedings for the opening forty minutes.

There was an early chance for Wilson's men to take the lead after just a couple of minutes of play - good inter-play between James Brown and Ritchie Humphreys saw the left back whip a ball across the face of the box where it was headed back in by Antony Sweeney only to be cleared by David Edgar.

Matty Robson, who was lively on the left wing, intercepted a ball out of defence to power in on goal and hit a low drive towards Shay Given's goal, but his effort went just wide of the far post.

With just 16 minutes on the clock, a ball from Joel Porter on the left allowed Robson to twist and turn his way towards goal before lifting a ball over Given and into the back of the net.

Pools continued to press and more than held their own against their Premier League opposition for much of the first half.

A speculative effort from Gary Liddle from distance deflected over the bar while the resulting corner kick just escaped the attentions of Ben Clark in the area.

But with five minutes remaining on the clock, the visitors drew level - Damien Duff was allowed space to run into the box where he curled a shot round Arran Lee-Barrett to make it 1-1 going into the break.

The second half told a slightly different story as Kevin Keegan's side made their experience show.

With less than ten minutes having been played after the break, Damien Duff had added his second - after breaking through into the box, Duff evaded the Pools defenders to slip a ball under Lee-Barrett and make it 2-1.

Just a minute later and Pools were undone once more - a quick freekick released sub Danny Guthrie, who made good space and fired in a shot from distance which deflected its way round Lee-Barrett and into the back of the net.

Pools did not give in though and had more chances to add to the scoresheet, with James Brown trying his luck with a headed effort and Ben Clark curling a shot from distance just round the post.

Matty Robson went on a powerful run down the left wing before cutting the ball in but his final ball was bundled out for a corner by Charles N'Zogbia under pressure from Brown.

The tricky Brown saw another of his efforts held solidly by sub keeper Fraser Forster.

But The Magpies were to finish the game on top and after a mix-up inside the Pools box, Damien Duff cropped up to poke the ball home, netting his hat-trick and finishing the game at 4-1.

Pools 1 Newcastle United 4

Att: 4249

Pools: Lee-Barrett, McCunnie (Foley 54), Humphreys, Sweeney, Clark, Collins (Nelson 68), Liddle (Power 82), Jones (Boland 54), Brown (Mackay 85), Porter (Barker 75), Robson (Monkhouse 75)

Subs Not Used: RowellBudtz

Newcastle United: Given (Forster 65), Diaz (Guthrie 46), Da Silva (Morris 71), Martins (Ameobi 46), Duff, N'Zogbia, Milner, Smith, Butt (c), Taylor, Edgar (Tozer 63)

Subs Not Used: Danquah, Doninger, Godsmark, Lough