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Ebbsfleet United midfielder Andy Drury on his goal against AFC Fylde

Andy Drury admitted Ebbsfleet "got out of jail" after his late goal earned them a point against AFC Fylde.

The midfielder struck with 89 minutes on the clock at Stonebridge Road after the Coasters had led 2-0 and 3-2 in an entertaining National League clash.

Drury's goal extended Fleet's unbeaten run to 26 league games including the play-offs but the 33-year-old knows they must improve on Saturday's showing.

Andy Drury up for a header against AFC Fylde Picture: Andy Payton
Andy Drury up for a header against AFC Fylde Picture: Andy Payton

Drury said: "All the goals (we conceded) were poor. They could have been stopped.

"We should have been better prepared. We defend as a team and in the first half, it wasn’t very good.

"There will be four or five teams that play in that way, where they’ll play the ball out from the back. We need to be better organised, we need to see things earlier as a team.

"Hopefully we learn from that and the next time we play against that, we’ll be OK."

Fylde had everyone back defending when the ball dropped to Drury in the D with a minute left.

He took two touches with his right foot before shooting low into the corner with his left.

Drury said: "I was going to shoot straight away but I saw the geezer coming towards me and he was going to block it so I took it round him and luckily it went in the bottom corner.

"I wasn’t having the best of games so it was nice to score. I always seem to do that, score when I’m not playing well.

"We did get out of jail really. We’ve got Dagenham on Tuesday and we’ll have to be a lot better than that to get anything."

Andy Drury and Danny Kedwell try to secure possession against AFC Fylde Picture: Andy Payton
Andy Drury and Danny Kedwell try to secure possession against AFC Fylde Picture: Andy Payton

Ebbsfleet boss Daryl McMahon praised Drury for showing such composure.

"He’s got class, hasn’t he?" McMahon said. "He’s hit two poor set-pieces and some players could fold but he doesn’t. He’s been around the block a few times and he trusts himself, believes in himself and he shows his quality.

"He’s a terrific player at this level. When we signed him last season, I went to watch quite a few Conference games and for me, he was the best midfield player I saw in the Conference last season. He will be up there again this season without a doubt."

Ebbsfleet still haven't lost at home since Drury rejoined the club from Eastleigh in December 2016.

"We don’t give up," he said. "You’ve seen that over the last seven or eight months.

"The tempo was a bit slow in the first half on Saturday but in the second half we upped the tempo, kept plugging away and got the point.

"It was a bit of a relief (when I scored). To be fair there were five minutes left and I thought we might have gone on to get the three points but it wasn’t to be.

"It’s mid-August and we’re still unbeaten so it’s a good record to have. We’ll keep plugging away.

"This division’s a long old grind, 46 games and there are some cold nights out there so we’ll keep going."

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