Hartlepool United conclude underwhelming National League Cup campaign with comfortable win over Leeds United

A brace from Terry Bondo, his first goals for the club, as well as a strike from Chris Popov secured Pete Wild's side their first win in the competition but wasn't enough to prevent them from finishing bottom of Group C.

Having declined invitations to take part in the contentious cup competition in each of the previous two seasons, Pools decided to enter for the first time this term.

While the National League Cup - which was reestablished, in part, to compensate for the controversial scrapping of FA Cup replays - has been generally derided since its revival, Pools had hoped to use it to blood some of its youngsters from its fledgling academy.