Hartlepool United fell to a humiliating 7-1 defeat at the Gateshead International Stadium on Tuesday night.

Kevin Phillips made two changes to the side that drew at Eastleigh on Saturday as Kwaku Oduroh and Manny Onariase replaced Alex Lacey and Callum Cooke in the starting line-up.

Pools started brightly and got their reward on eight minutes when Joe Grey latched onto a defence-splitting pass from Nicky Featherstone, before coolly chipping the ball over Nathan Harness in the Gateshead net.

Gateshead thought they had a quick response when Ed Francis saw his free-kick strike off the crossbar. The rebound was turned home from close-range by Callum Wheelan, but the linesman flagged for offside.

The home side kept pushing for an equaliser and their pressure paid off when Dajaune Brown made his way into the penalty area before being brought to the ground. The referee pointed to the spot and Luke Hannant calmly dispatched to level the score.

Gatheshead’s pressure continued into the second half and they took an early lead when Whelan’s cross found Kieran Evans in the box, who struck the ball past Pete Jameson and into the far corner.

Just minutes later, Whelan found himself linking up with Hannant on the right wing before finding Brown in the middle, who headed home from close-range to double the home side’s advantage.

On the hour mark, Gateshead got their fourth as Regan Booty latched onto a loose ball in the Pools box to slam home.

Hannant was involved again as he found Brown behind the Pools defence once more, who lifted the ball over Jameson for the Heed's fifth.

After 73 minutes, Gateshead got their sixth as Francis chipped the ball over the backline for Whelan to run onto and place the ball in off the post.

Their seventh arrived in the 90th minute as Courtney Duffus headed into his own net at the front post from a corner.

Pools: Jameson, Oduroh (Cooke 58), Onariase (Duffus 74), Parkes, Waterfall, Ferguson, Featherstone, Crawford, Agyemang, Grey, Dieseruvwe

Subs (not used): Dixon, Stephenson, Cooper