Ebbsfleet manager Steve Brown declared himself happy with a point away to Skrill South leaders Bromley on Boxing Day.

The 0-0 draw at Hayes Lane meant the Ravens' lead at the top was cut to eight points by second-placed Eastleigh, who won 2-1 at Dorchester, with the Fleet now another five points back in third.

Brown's side were the first to take points off Bromley at home this season and only the third to stop them scoring in any game, home or away.

And the Fleet boss said: "I think it’s a great result. They’re top of the league, they’re some distance clear and nine teams have come here before us and gone away with absolutely nothing.

"We gave as good as we got. The first half was a very good performance in terms of stopping Bromley doing what they do well, but I thought they were better in the second half. They passed and moved quite well, they asked a few questions of us as a team and Preston (Edwards) had to come to our aid.

"But their keeper was busy as well. I thought Corcs’ (Michael Corcoran) shot was going to nestle in the back of the net. We had various chances in both halves – I don’t think too many teams have come here and had that kind of possession and certainly created that amount of chances.

"In that respect, I’m pleased. I would have loved the three but I think 0-0 away at Bromley is a very good result.

"We had our moments and it was one goal, wasn’t it? Whoever got it was going to win the game and nobody did, simple as that."

Ebbsfleet remain 13 points behind Bromley, with a game in hand, ahead of Saturday's home game against Dover and the return fixture against Bromley on New Year's Day.

Brown said: "It was important not to lose any more ground, so in that respect we’ve done our job. Now they’ve got to come and do a similar job at Stonebridge Road, which is going to be slightly more difficult than they’re used to here.

"I think we’ve done the rest of the league a favour, haven’t we? We’ve not lost ground to them, but Eastleigh will be happiest all.

"I’m pretty sure (Bromley) will want the same result at our place on New Year’s Day. In between, we’ve got one day to recover and we’re back on it against Dover.

"I’ve had this discussion before, but I find the fixture list extremely harsh. By the end, there were two really tired sides and that’s why the game opened up – you have an attack, we’ll have an attack.

"There’s nothing you can do about it on the sidelines because when you’ve got players that, physically, are spent, they’re not making the right decisions.

"To ask these guys to turn round and play again in 48 hours – I know it’s the same for everybody – but I just think it lessens the quality on show."

Michael Thalassitis, who suffered a hip flexor injury in training on Christmas Eve, missed the Bromley game and is unlikely to be fit in time for the Dover clash.

And there are plenty of tired legs in Brown's squad ahead of the Stonebridge Road double-header.

He said: "When you’re playing at home, you’ve got to look to get three points out of those games. I said to the boys, we had Sutton, Bromley, Dover, Bromley, and if we came out with seven points, we’ve got to be happy.

"You’ve got to factor in a loss (at Bromley) because this was a tough, tough game. On paper, most people would have given this as a loss.

"If we come out with seven-plus points out of those four games, I think that’d be a very good return on four games. But we’ll see.

"We want to get three points against Dover and I do fancy us at home.

"I do think it now depends on the squad and how it reacts from this game. It was a tough, tough game. I looked at our players, who are generally a really fit bunch, and they looked tired."

Kick-off on Saturday is at 3pm.