More on KentOnline
Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb was pleased to see his team’s scrappy side on Monday.
The Fleet came from behind to win 2-1 at Concord in a tough, physical game not helped by a dry, bobbly pitch.
It’s the sort of game that Kutrieb’s men have dropped points in previously this season. But they had enough quality to take the victory.
“It’s a massive three points,” said the Fleet boss. “If someone told me before the game that we’d win 2-1, I would take it all day long.
“We knew it was a tough place to come, the pitch is awful and everything was scrappy. It was a scrappy game, maybe the worst performance from our side from a footballing point of view but we put a great shift in, got on with everything here and how the opponents play.
“I would say maybe it’s the first time this season when we come out from a scrappy game with three points and that really makes me proud.”
Fleet made it two wins out of two over Easter but the performance and circumstances were completely different to their Good Friday win over Dulwich at Stonebridge Road.
“It was a completely different opponent and attitude (from Friday),” added Kutrieb. “At this stage of the season all that matters is getting three points.
“We were a little bit lucky at the end when they hit the crossbar but apart from that I didn’t see many chances. On our side we didn’t have many chances either.
“We knew we needed to be clinical and that’s what we were.
“It’s not an easy place to come, Dorking lost here and Dartford as well. We knew what we had to expect.”
The three points saw Ebbsfleet mathematically secure their play-off spot.
Now they need to try to land third place – gaining home advantage in the semi-final and avoid an eliminator game – by finishing above rivals Dartford.
“That was the minimum aim that we had and we have achieved that four games before the end of the season,” said Kutrieb.
“You know me long enough, I’m not happy about arriving in the play-offs. We need to make sure we get a good position, and that’s on us.
“We got the three points today but many times during the season we missed (doing that) in a scrappy game.
“We have another scrappy game on Saturday at Tonbridge so we need to be ready for the next one and that’s all that matters for the moment.”