Ebbsfleet boss Daryl McMahon praised referee Ian Rathbone for not being fooled by Oxford City's 'diving' during Saturday's 1-1 draw at Stonebridge Road.

The top two teams in National League South put on an entertaining spectacle in occasionally horrible weather conditions and the result meant Fleet stayed five points clear at the top of the table.

McMahon was infuriated by several incidents during the game and was in regular conversation with the assistant referee in front of his dugout.

But he said: "The ref, in general, had a really good game. He cottoned on to a lot of diving from them and he did well to let the game flow.

"I thought they did (go to ground easily).

"I’ve watched them a couple of times and it happens in every game. They’ve got some players that do entice tackles, to be fair.

"Isaac and Coulson, the two wide players, do entice tackles, how they play. Their movement’s good off the line and they’re good dribblers as well so people are going to tackle them and every now and then, you will get caught late but I did think they were looking for them quite often - especially around our box."

Ebbsfleet and Oxford were the only two teams in the division's top-five in action on Saturday because of FA Cup commitments for some of their rivals.

McMahon said: "We’ve kept them at arm’s distance but we probably deserved to win the game. In that aspect, it’s two points dropped but I thought it was a better performance from us this week than we’ve had in the last couple of games.

"We had all the chances - Stuey, late on, to nick it, Godds had a couple earlier on, Keds had one earlier on, we had a lot more chances than they did. We had a lot more ball in territory than they did."

An intriguing tactical battle seemed to go Ebbsfleet's way during a second half which they dominated.

McMahon said: "Oxford try to pass it out from nigh-on every goal kick but in the end they had to go long because they couldn’t get out.

"Our press was decent, we pressed them in their half, they had to go long and then we, more often than not, won the ball back and went at them again.

"They’re a different sort of team, definitely, but we have seen it before. Whitehawk did a similar kind of thing. It’s a nice way of playing and we’ll take the point.

"They’re a good side, they’re different to everyone else, they’ve got a few Spanish players and a Spanish coach. They do it in a different way, which is interesting for the level.

"It’s a really interesting project there."

Third-placed Maidstone are now eight points below the Fleet with two games in hand, with Whitehawk and Maidenhead a further two points back in fourth and fifth respectively.

Ebbsfleet's next game is away to Eastbourne Borough on Saturday.