Dale picked up their biggest opening day win in over twenty years as a rampant attacking display proved to be too much for our North East visitors.
Overall, it was something of a strange game as the visitors got into good areas. Indeed, they could have been two goals to the good in the opening ten minutes with Jonathan Franks in particular causing us all sorts of problems.
But the gulf in class showed soon after with Dale looking a real threat every time we went forward. Debutant Scott Hogan got things up and running with a fantastic opening goal, and there were whispers about how long we could keep hold of him before he'd played twenty minutes for the club.
A clear penalty at the start of the second half ended the game as a contest, with the only question being what was the fouling Pools player complaining about after he brought Matty Lund down in the box. George Donnelly sent the ball the other way from the already diving Flinders.
A beauty of a pass from Scott Hogan into Ian Henderson had fans reminiscing the famous Paddy to Kev goal against York from yesteryear. It was a stunning move and at that stage, the third goal was just what we deserved.
No one will be getting carried away by a heavy win against a side still looking hungover from last season, but the ghosts of the two previous seasons were exorcised that little bit more, and there were big smiles on the faces of the Dale fans as they belatedly left Spotland.
Happy days.