Hartlepool comfortably brush aside non-league Stamford

Hartlepool eased into the second round of the FA Cup with a comfortable 3-0 win over Stamford.With 93 places separating the two sides, the lowest ranked team left in the competition were well beaten. Pools hit the bar in the 20th minute through Nicky Deverdics and Padraig Amond missed the follow up.But in a first-half controlled by the Sky Bet League Two side, Stamford, backed by 505 travelling fans, had a sniff of goal as the first 45 minutes ended.Kern Miller flashed a low shot wide from the right side of the area, then Jevani Brown's rising effort failed to trouble Trevor Carson. Hartlepool broke the visitors' resistance in the 65th minute when Deverdics fired in a free-kick, before the hosts' incessant possession was rewarded late on.Right-back Jordan Richards' shot was going wide until Delroy Gordon hacked the ball into his own net with eight minutes remaining.And in the 85th minute, Pools skipper Billy Paynter met a Deverdics cross to head home.