Bournemouth are flying high in more ways than one. They travelled to their Capital One Cup tie in the private jet of their Russian owner, Maxim Demin, last night, then eased to a victory that showed Eddie Howe, the manager, possesses fringe players of the quality that will be needed if they are to survive in the Barclays Premier League.
Howe left out all the players who won away to West Ham United on Saturday, but — as a measure of the squad he is building — still sent out a strong team featuring summer signings such as Tyrone Mings, Lee Tomlin and Sylvain Distin.
Ronnie Moore, the Hartlepool United manager, could not afford a similar exercise and named his strongest side, indicating the gulf between teams who had faced each other in Sky Bet League One only two and a half seasons ago.
Since then they have gone in different directions. Bournemouth have risen to the top flight and Hartlepool were on the brink of going out of the League last season before the arrival of Moore ignited a remarkable revival.
They were totally outclassed last night, with Junior Stanislas pushing his Premier League claims with two goals and creating another for Yann Kermorgant. Lee Tomlin, another midfield influence, created the other goal and there could have been several more in a one-sided tie.
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The only surprise was that the opening goal did not arrive until a third of the game had gone. Stanislas was heavily involved as he turned away from his marker inside the area, declined the chance to shoot and set up Kermorgant for a crisp finish from 12 yards.
Dan Gosling added the second four minutes later after good work by Tomlin, and the half-time scoreline became a realistic reflection of the first 45 minutes when Stanislas surprised Adam Bartlett, the goalkeeper, with a superbly struck free kick.
Stanislas added his second in the 64th minute after smart work by Christian Atsu, the winger on loan from Chelsea, who had set the tone for the tie by hitting the underside of the bar after only two minutes.
Hartlepool United (4-3-3): A Bartlett — M Duckworth, S Harrison, A Boyce, J Carroll — N Featherstone, M Woods (sub: B Walker, 65min), C Magnay — R Oates (sub: C Smith, 65), W Paynter (sub: S Fenwick, 46), R Bingham. Substitutes not used: P Denton, K Oyenuga, E Nelson-Addy, D Jones.
Bournemouth (4-2-3-1): A Federici — A Smith (sub: M Butcher, 76), B Cargill, S Distin, T Mings — S MacDonald, D Gosling — C Atsu (sub: M Ritchie, 77), L Tomlin, J Stanislas — Y Kermorgant (sub: T Rantie, 65). Substitutes not used: R Allsop, A Surman, E Ward, F Costa. Booked: Cargill.
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Referee: C Boyeson.