Tonbridge caretaker boss Scott Wagstaff saw his side claim a point at Maidstone - but felt they deserved three.

Defender Ethan Sutcliffe scored the second-half equaliser as Angels came from a goal down to draw 1-1 at the Gallagher Stadium on Easter Monday.

Wagstaff was delighted with the performance, particularly the second half, after picking up his first point in charge of the National League South outfit.

He might already have had three, of course, had the Weston game not been abandoned in the closing minutes with Tonbridge 1-0 up.

“It’s a great point and I think we deserved all three, to be honest with you,” said Wagstaff.

“I thought we were the stronger team coming into it second half.

“We should have had a penalty.

“It’s a stonewall penalty but you don’t get them when you’re not in the play-offs or around the top and away from home, so it’s disappointing but I don’t want to take anything away from the boys. I thought they were excellent.

Report: Maidstone 1-1 Tonbridge

“They’ve given me absolutely everything since day one, since I’ve come in, and that performance has been coming.

“We had it at Weston, we won the game, obviously the circumstances weren’t great, so the game got called off, but as an away performance that’s probably one of our best all season.”

Maidstone, whose point effectively seals a National League South play-off place, made the better start and led through Aaron Blair’s 20th goal of the season.

But Tonbridge improved and were good value for Sutcliffe’s classy finish after Harry Ottaway flicked on a long throw from Liam Vincent.

“You’ve got to realise where you are,” said Wagstaff.

“We’re at a team that’s a very good side, very well drilled, with good management staff, so you’ve got to manage your expectations a little bit.

“Once the boys actually realised we’re just as good as them, that’s when we started to play and started to have a little bit more control of the game, and I felt we did that second half.

“First half we were a little bit here and there and there wasn’t much in it. But second half I thought we looked the stronger side and the team more likely to score.

“With Ethan, he doesn’t know how to celebrate so he’s probably the worst person to score a goal but he’s been brilliant since I’ve been in here.

“H did brilliant to flick the ball on and we targeted that a little bit because we’ve got a long throw, so you’ve got to use your strengths.

“It’s a little touch, swivel and the finish was brilliant. It’s a great finish. I’m really pleased for him. He’s a great kid and hopefully he has a really good career.”

Wagstaff praised his midfield for their impact, describing Taylor Maloney as “technically one of the best in the league” and on-loan Wycombe man Christie Ward as a “brilliant player”.

But it was perhaps ex-Charlton youngster Nazir Bakrin, a defender by trade, who stole the show in there.

“Naz is a centre-half normally but I thought he was brilliant,” said Wagstaff.

“He mopped up everything and he’s got that in him.

“That’s why we put him in there because we knew they’d be quite direct, so you need to have a little bit of height and he dealt with it really well.”