IN THE absence of boss Ronnie Moore, Hartlepool United produced a performance to lift his spirits.

Moore has flown to Spain to be with his daughter, Charlotte, who has been taken to hospital with pneumonia.

Sam Collins took charge of the side as they reached the second round for the first time since August 2010 when they beat Sheffield United.

Billy Paynter scored the only goal, his close-range header meaning it's two goals in as many games this season.

And Collins hopes the result and performance, which built on the weekend’s opening day win over Morecambe, will be a boost to Moore and his family.

“Let’s see what happens with Ronnie, hopefully Charlotte is feeling a lot better and Ronnie can come back. It’s not been a nice few days, that win and performance is for Ronnie, his wife and family. He will be pleased,’’ reflected Collins. “Let’s see how it goes for him over there.’’

Pools go into Thursday night’s draw thanks to a display of pure, honest commitment and plenty of honesty.

It’s a different story to 12 months ago when they folded in an embarrassing 6-2 thumping at Port Vale.

“It was exciting towards the end, end to end, balls flying across the box. We defended brilliantly as a group,’’ said Collins.

“First-half, we always felt comfortable. We worked on keeping our shape in training and we stuck to the game plan well.

“Rakish Bingham is a threat, he’s got pace and it was brave to stick to 4-3-3 as we wanted the strikers to stay up top against their centre-halves.

“The way the three up front worked hard defensively was good for team.’’

Pools were expected to shift to a 3-5-2 set-up, but sticking with Saturday’s winning formation and team proved the right decision.

It did take Pools 20 minutes to get going, as they were under pressure and never laid a hand on the Cod Army, who attacked down the flanks at will.

But once they settled, they grew into the game and were better than their League One opponents.

In the closing stages when they were forced to defend, they did it with strength and determination. Behind the back four and midfield, goalkeeper Adam Bartlett was outstanding.

Collins added: “We had chances first-half, then we get the goal and we were excellent on the attack.

“As a defender you want to be in there, throwing yourself in front of the ball and attacking it.

“At the end you expect them to throw balls into the box against a League One team who expected to beat us.

“On Saturday we lost our shape for 20 minutes, but we asked them tonight to be more disciplined and we stuck to it and caught them on the counter.’’

But Pools weren’t too clever in the opening stages. A Scott Harrison tackle knocked the ball away from Bartlett and Declan McManus wasn’t able to make the most of it.

Then a Lyle Della-Verde cross from the right, after he went by three defenders, evaded Bell for a tap-in.

Under the cosh, and Jamie Proctor pushed a free header wide.

Pools’ first chance came when Michael Woods had a volley charged down. Pools kept the ball moving and Nicky Featherstone’s rising volley was heading for the top corner before Chris Maxwell saved.

Then a delightful reverse ball from Paynter, played inside the full-back, gave Bingham a run on goal, but he wasted the chance by sliding the ball wide.

Fleetwood switched at half-time to 3-5-2, but Pools were on top.

Scott Fenwick was growing into the game, and bustled his way past Eggert Johnson and his cheeky drive was pushed over.

But Paynter’s header, when he met a lovely Jake Carroll free-kick, separated the sides.

A lovely raking pass from Bingham found Fenwick, but his touch was heavy and allowed keeper Maxwell to smother.

From then on it was pure entertainment, thrill a minute.

Bartlett somehow twice smothered on the line, Harrison and Worley blocked shots. Bartlett tipped over a free-kick.

Then, from a home corner, Pools broke away. Keeper Maxwell was chasing back desperately when Bingham tried his luck at an open goal from 45 yards, but he curled it wide.

In four minutes of injury time, a wasp of a free-kick from Danny Andrew smashed off the top of the bar.

Pools deservedly hung on. The never say die spirit from last season lives on.