Antony Sweeney reflects on dream start as Hartlepool United caretaker manager following 3-0 win at Aldershot Town

It was a dream start for the Pools legend as Josh Hawkes scored inside the opening five minutes before later missing the chance to double the lead from the penalty spot.

The Shots had plenty of opportunities to get back into the game but several smart stops from Ben Killip kept the clean sheet intact before Gavan Holohan and Nicke Kabamba netted late on to give the scoreline a more convincing look.

Following the match, Sweeney said: “Yeah, I do feel like I’ve been thrown in the deep end a little bit!

“There’s easier routes into being a caretaker manager but sometimes that can be a benefit as well, if you’ve got too long to think about things I can’t cloud your judgement a little bit as well.

“It was good to get the players down there and have a meeting last night.

“I addressed the players about what had happened over the last 24, 48 hours and spoke about Aldershot and let them enjoy the night.

“That’s all the time we had to prepare really. The game finished Wednesday night, back early hours, off Thursday then straight on the bus for a six hour journey on the Friday.

“We’ve had no training so to put on a performance like that, I can’t ask for any more.”

Sweeney’s first game in interim charge saw Pools pick up their biggest win of the season so far though he’s not taking any credit for the result.

“We were working hard on getting players in and around the six yard box and score so to see that come to fruition was great,” he added.

“I’m a firm believer in players win you games, not me, not the coaching staff, we can only advise them and give them the tools and the guidance to play to their max.

“It was great to score so early, a bit disappointing not to score the penalty and they had a fair few chances as well and on another day they would have scored a few but sometimes you need some luck and we got that today.”