RONNIE MOORE, the man of the moment after rescuing Hartlepool United from relegation, admits the job he has done the best he has ever achieved in football.

With almost 1,000 games as a manager under his belt, Moore took over with Pools cut adrift at the foot of the Football League and doomed to the drop.

The squad was bereft of ability and confidence following the disastrous seven-game spell under Paul Murray and a desperate opening to the season under Colin Cooper.

And Moore, who played down talk of being named manager of the year, admitted: “Without a doubt this is my biggest achievement in football. Back to back promotions with Rotherham were hard on that budget, and to stay in the Championship for four years was massive on a £1.5m budget .. getting results against Man City and beating West Ham.

“But this was from ten points adrift to safety, I’m very proud of it and I’m sure my head will be aching in the morning!’’

After losing at Wycombe on January 3, Pools were ten points short of safety with a goal difference far worse than anyone else in the division.

But they gradually clawed themselves back into contention, four victories in a row in March proving vital in dumping Cheltenham and Tranmere in the bottom two.

“There was no lift when I came here, it took a while and normally a new manager comes in and gets a lift – we drew two and lost two,’’ Moore said.

“I know the impact should be there, but we were rock bottom, confidence was rock bottom and ability was rock bottom.

“Overall the loan players have been fantastic, no doubt, they have done a good job and that well that the strikers have been taken back by their clubs.

“That changed it around a bit, four wins on a trot lifted us so much in confidence and you could see that in training.’’

But he admitted the build-up to Saturday's epic game at Victoria Park was a worry: “Monday and Tuesday was fantastic training sessions.

“Wednesday off, then Thursday was awful. I couldn’t sleep and was talking to the mrs about it. I don’t think she was really bothered, but I told her how bad the session was!

“Friday was really good, doing what we wanted to do and put Exeter under pressure. It’s about belief we would get a chance.

“I said this week that how many actually believed when we were ten points adrift it would still be in our own hands?

“And none of them did put their hands up.

“That’s when we were relaxed, no-one felt we could do it and then when we got our heads above water it became, as Sir Alex said, squeaky bum time.’’

But Pools played with energy and commitment at the weekend as goals from Scott Fenwick and Jordan Hugill earned the win over Exeter that keeps Pools in the Football League.

Roared on by a passionate crowd inside Victoria Park, as the town responded to the desperate cause in recent weeks, the players gave their all.

“I asked for one massive effort, could we grind one more out? It could all be over if we did and we gave it all we got,’’ added Moore.

“I’ve said openly, on Twitter, this is the biggest game in the club’s history. The last thing you want is to go out of the league, because it takes too long to get back.

“Luton were five years, there’s Grimsby who we played in the Championship with Rotherham, Stockport are not even in there. That drop would be unbelievable.

“We are a Football League club. I was dreading having to start again from down there.

“It’s a lot more easier to bring players in when they see where we have come from. It means so much to the town - supporters have been unbelievable. We were getting 3,500 when we were bottom of the table.

“You would not get that anywhere, not at any club. They have got behind us and we gave them belief when everyone thought we were dead.

“The other two were as bad as us and it’s very nervy in those situations and when they lost we lost, we weren’t allowed to drop into the bottom two again and we gave it all we have got.

“Never Say Die is the slogan on our shirts – it’s all about that, you don’t need the best 11 players in the division. But you can have the best team. We didn’t at Rotherham but we had the Dirty Dozen, we would go ratting everywhere.

“That’s what we need to bring here now, get two of three class players in there and it makes a difference.’’