Own goals do Stoke’s job for them

STOKE’S visit to Hartlepool had the potential to provide an FA Cup shock: a struggling Championship side up against a lower-league team showing signs of improvement in cold and wet conditions.

But after watching Stoke brush aside their League Two opponents with relative ease, Alex Neil admitted he could not have wished for a better afternoon. Hartlepool made things easier for the Potters by scoring two of the visitors’ goals through defenders Euan Murray and Rollin Menayese, either side of Jacob Brown’s predatory finish just before half-time.

In reality, despite Pools’ assistance, there was very little to concern Stoke, who could have scored more — particularly when substitute Dwight Gayle almost ended his wait for a first Stoke goal. Neil said: ‘It was a good performance, a professional performance. Just look at some of the results over the last two days and you’ll see how difficult games like this can be. ‘We wanted to take this game away from them once we got the first goal and I think we did that. We created numerous chances and made it difficult for them.

‘I was confident in the performance. I wanted this to be a confidence-builder more than anything else.’ Stoke, the 2011 runners-up, will now welcome Stevenage to the bet365 Stadium in the fourth round after their shock victory over Aston Villa yesterday. Hartlepool manager Keith Curle said: ‘This was an excellent experience for the lads. We always mention creating goalscoring opportunities — unfortunately, after this, we have to make sure that those are in the opposition’s box!

‘Today was not our day and we now focus on the league. The cup dream is over.’

Curle, whose side have lost just one of their last four league games, was disappointed Hartlepool did not pose more of a threat.

He said: ‘I want us to score goals and create opportunities so we would have liked to have done that today. We will look back on this as part of our development.’