Margate boss Steve Watt was full of praise for his depleted squad after holding Billericay in Bostik Premier on Saturday.

Gate were just three minutes away from becoming only the second side to beat the big-spending Essex side in the league this season.

But despite the disappointment of finally conceding, Watt was more than happy as his team ended a run of three successive defeats.

“Considering what we’re missing, with players playing out of position and the youth in our team, to put in that performance was outstanding,” said Watt.

“We knew we were going to be put under pressure. If you’d asked us before the game if we’d have taken a point then I think we would have taken it.

“The last performances I’ve been critical in the changing room about our defenders, how we’ve defended our box and how easy we’ve been in our box.

“To a man I thought we were fantastic, we had Frannie Collin back there winning headers, Jordan back there to make an extra body. When a team puts six up front against you it makes things difficult.”

It could have been even better for Margate had Jordan Chiedozie managed to put away a second-half chance.

But the Margate boss refused to blame his leading scorer.

“We had our chances in the second half,” added Watt. “If we went 2-0 up it was game over but we can’t be disappointed with that.

“Alan Julian made an unbelievable save to stop it going 2-0. When you’re under pressure you need to take those chances.

"I’ve told Jordan to get his head up, he’s won us games this season, and not to let that bother him.”

Read the match report from Margate's 1-1 draw at Billericay here

Watt also admitted he was surprised that the game was on as the heavy pitch made it difficult for both teams.

“I was surprised the game was on,” added the Margate manager. “When you first walked in it looked a little soft but the further you walked across it, the worse it was.

“Credit to the ground staff for getting the game on, but particularly down that bottom end I was surprised it was on. I thought it was a 10-minute downpour away from being off. There were a lot of people losing their footing.

“They are a fantastic side, they will go on and win the league and you can see why. We’ve got to be proud of the way we’ve performed.”