Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb described his team’s victory over promotion rivals Havant as “massive”.

The Fleet moved eight points clear in National League South after a 2-0 win over Havant, who now trail them by 13 points with a game in hand.

It’s an imposing gap and while the league title won’t be won or lost at the start of February, it’s another big step towards Ebbsfleet becoming champions.

“Massive win,” stated Kutrieb, who praised his team’s defensive display. “It was very important as they are up in the table with us.

“We’ve put a few more points between us and them which is important as you never know what the season will bring. It just gives us a little cushion and makes sure they are not too close.

“We said before the game that they have good individual players one v one that can hurt you, and they had a good few players on the pitch.

“It was outstanding defending from our back three and on top of it we had a very good goalkeeper.

“I’m interested to see how many shots it was but it was a great display from a defensive point of view.

“I would never take it for granted that you don’t concede in two games against Havant who are second or third in the table.”

Ebbsfleet striker Rakish Bingham saw his penalty well saved by on-loan Chelsea keeper Teddy Sharman-Lowe early in the second half.

It meant Fleet had a slender lead until the 89th minute when substitute Franklin Domi added a second goal to Dominic Poleon’s first-half opener.

“You can’t miss a penalty normally but that’s what happened,” said Kutrieb.

“I’m delighted and relieved for the boys that there was no equaliser because after a missed penalty if you still win a game then it doesn’t feel too bad.

“First half, we had Dom one-on-one against the goalkeeper and second half we had a few more chances so we needed to score the second goal earlier and it might have been a little bit easier.

“You never can feel really confident when they throw everything at you, you need to defend so many headers in the box and seconds ball as they are always kind of 50-50 situations. You can win it but you can lose it as well.

“There was one really crucial situation where we threw everything on the line and blocked it three or four times before it went out for a corner. Everyone was working really hard not to concede.

“We had to be focused and we knew it would be a big challenge over 90 minutes.

“I was not too worried but you always need to be concerned because if you don’t defend perfectly in just one situation then you might concede and it’s 1-1.

• Report: Ebbsfleet 2-0 Havant

“Everyone would agree it was a deserved win for us. We had them and were on top of them for nearly 90 minutes, every now and then they had a little bit but they’re up there in the table so they should create something.”

Kutrieb decided not to include recent signing Billy Clifford, who has only played once for Ebbsfleet after leaving Havant at the end of last month.

“You need to understand football players are human beings and he played with his team-mates for two-and-a-half years,” said the Fleet boss. “If you meet them so early it’s always a tough challenge.

“If you (left your old club) in a negative way because you don’t like your gaffer or team-mates, it’s a different story as you’ll play a magnificent game so you just throw him in. But Billy was fine with Havant, he was not negative with the people there or the players so it would have been a challenge to play them just two or three weeks after he left.

“I wouldn’t pick him anyway and that’s what I told him anyway. He will be a massive addition for us as we saw against Concord.”