Aldershot Town manager Scott Davies praised his side’s performance after they won 3-1 at home to Harrogate Town.

Tristan Abrahams scored a first-half hat-trick to fire the Shots into a 3-0 lead at the break, and although Harrogate improved after the break Aldershot did enough to pick up all three points.

“No two halves of football are ever the same,” said Davies.

“At half-time, we told the players Harrogate are going to come out and throw caution to the wind.

“They did – they changed their shape and put more bodies on our last line.

“We had to deal with a little bit of pressure and had to adapt very quickly, but the first-half performance was out of this world.

“The boys were absolutely brilliant. Some of our play was exhilarating. When we do it correctly and we do it how we want to do it, I think we can compete.

“The boys managed the second half really well. We could have been better at times, but if someone had told me we'll win the game 3-1 I would have snapped their hand off.”

Davies was full of praise for hat-trick hero Abrahams, who only scored two goals for the Shots last season and was sent out on loan to National League South outfit Chelmsford City by former boss John Coleman in February.

“The level of finishing was very high for all three goals – they were really well taken,” said Davies.

“I’m absolutely delighted for Tristan. Hopefully it's the rebirth of his time here after what happened last season.

“For him to do that, it shows his character and his desire to want to do well.

“It's a new start, and to see the fans singing his name at the end was incredible.

“Tristan has got good experience and is playing football not only for himself, but his family.

“No one goes out there to try to play badly or upset people. I think he's absolutely one everyone over. What he's done for me, the players, himself and the football club, can't be questioned.

“To have that mindset where maybe you've got the fanbase on your back because of his behaviour, decisions he has made or performances where he's not tried hard enough, to shake that off in that manner shows the kind of player he is.

“He owed that to the football club, and what a way to repay everyone.”

Davies was delighted with the performance of his whole team against Harrogate, and highlighted several other players who excelled.

“I've got to tip my hat to Dom Odusanya – I thought he was absolutely brilliant,” said Davies. “He does all the work that goes unnoticed, but I could go through the whole team.

“We've got no one playing for this football club to have a payday or anything like that. They're all in it because they want to be here and want to do well for the football club.

“They're all as honest as they come. They run all day long, they'll put their bodies on the line, they'll fight and they'll scrap.

“It's hard to pick out individuals, but Kiki Oshilaja and Michael Stickland were absolutely ridiculous in terms of their performance levels. I thought they were great. They set the tone at the back of the pitch.”