Hartlepool United caretaker manager Antony Sweeney reflects on his best memory in the FA Cup against Yeovil Town

Pools face National League North side Brackley Town at Victoria Park on Saturday (3pm kick-off) with a place in the first round proper up for grabs.

And when looking back on his favourite memories of the competition, there was only one place to start for the United legend.

Nine years ago, a second round replay against Yeovil Town at the Vic, Pools trailed 2-0, then…

“I scored a hat-trick, which was nice,” Sweeney said. “I performed really poorly in the game to be honest.”

Pools ended up winning the match 4-2 and despite scoring a hat-trick, Sweeney felt it was Ritchie Humphreys’ acrobatic volley that stole the plaudits.

“It was all about Humps’ volley anyway,” smiled the former Hartlepool midfielder.

“I said that Humps was trying to steal the limelight for that, I scored a hat-trick but he scored a volley. Still, it was my left-foot swinger that put the ball into the box for him!

“It’s a great competition, it took me probably until the back end of my career to get what I’d class as a real good tie was when I was at Carlisle and we played Everton at home which was a big game on TV. The experiences are there to have but you’ve got to get through those early rounds to get there.”