Pools Youth Team stunned Blackpool on Saturday with a remarkable 8-3 win in the First Round of the Youth Alliance Cup at Chester-le-Street.
The high winds played havoc with the game and didn't allow much in the way of free-flowing football but Pools quickly set out their stall and dominated proceedings to extend their unbeaten run to six games.
Despite playing in to the wind in the first half, Micky Barron's men took the lead on five minutes when Craig Ruddy's pass released Daniel Johnson ho neatly curled it past the keeper.
Blackpool were on the back foot and conceded again when Callum Wilson chased round his full-back and his cross was diverted in to his own net by visiting defender.
However, as the wind continued to drive in to the faces of the Pools players tiredness began to set in and Blackpool took advantage to pull themselves back in to the game and drew the game level at 2-2 before half time.
Barron's encouragement at the break to put Blackpool under pressure paid dividends as Pools came out and immediately began to get back in the ascendancy.
Anthony Wakefield's incisive through ball set up Wilson to score a neat goal, and then Lee Mason robbed the defender on the edge of the box to slam home off the post to make it 4-2 with just ten minutes of the second half gone.
Mason scored again when he took advantage of some casual play by the keeper to take up the ball on the right side of the box and then calmly lift it over the stopper's head as he tried to get back on to his line.
And it wasn't long before Pools hit the net again when Tom Marron finished well from a long throw, and it was 7-2 when Chay Liddle's ball forward deceived the keeper and sailed in to the net on the back of the wind.
Mason completed his hat-trick after he finished off a quickly-taken free-kick and although Blackpool pulled back a further consolation goal late on it could not take the gloss off a fine victory.
"We had a very young side out so to put in that type of performance was superb," a delighted Barron told us.
"The eleven-minute spell just after half time quite literally blew Blackpool away and I was very proud of the way my players went about the job.
"It's great to watch the team develop and they're gaining confidence with the every game that goes by at the moment."
Full Time: Pools 8 Blackpool 3
Pools: Thomas, Purvis, Ruddy, Richards, Rowbotham (Johnstone), Marron, Wilson (Marshall), Liddle, Wakefield (Dodds), Mason, D Johnson.
Subs not used: Dukes.
