Sickening - that's how Tom Bonner described Ebbsfleet's play-off final defeat to Maidstone.

Bonner and Fleet were less than a minute away from promotion when Stones substitute Dumebi Dumaka equalised in the dying seconds of extra-time to send the match to penalties.

Ebbsfleet lost the shoot-out 4-3 after Maidstone keeper Lee Worgan saved Bonner and Danny Kedwell's spot-kicks.

Bonner said: "It’s one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had in football.

"We were 30 seconds away from promotion and had it snatched away.

"To lose on penalties, it was sickening. That’s the only way I can describe it.

"It only takes a second to score a goal but I felt comfortable (at 2-1). I felt we defended well and I couldn’t see them scoring, which made it even worse.

"The trophy was in our sights and I thought we’d done enough to win it.

"To concede so late, we weren’t being peppered late on, they didn’t have many chances and I thought we defended well. It was just a real killer blow."

Maidstone had several shots in the scramble which eventually saw Dumaka rifle the ball home.

Bonner said: "I was talking to Parkesy (Jordan Parkes) after because we both slid in together. I genuinely have no idea how it went in, what happened.

"I remember there was a scuffed shot and I think I blocked one. I just remember a few bodies flying in front of the ball and somehow it’s gone in.

"That was the equaliser, they didn’t score to win promotion so we just tried to pick ourselves up because we knew there was a huge penalty shoot-out coming.

"It wasn’t the losing goal, as sickening as it was, so we tried to stay positive and get our heads right for the penalties that were about to come."

Bonner, a centre-half by trade, wasn't an obvious choice to take one of the five penalties but he wasn't about to hide when Fleet boss Daryl McMahon called for volunteers.

He said: "When the gaffer comes round and asks who wants one, I felt like I’d been captain of the team and it’s only right I should put my name forward.

"It’s a pressure moment. I’m not a penalty taker but I feel I’m the sort of person that’s got to step up for the team."

Bonner side-footed the ball to Worgan's left but his spot-kick wasn't powerful or accurate enough and the keeper saved with his legs.

"I think the occasion maybe got the better of me," Bonner admitted. "I just didn’t connect with it well, for whatever reason. Maybe the pressure got to me.

"Being honest to myself, I didn’t hit it well enough."

Nathan Ashmore kept out Dumaka's penalty and Matt Godden levelled things up at 3-3 but after Dan Sweeney had scored for Stones, Worgan saved Kedwell's penalty to win it.

"It was hard on Keds," Bonner said. "He’d already scored two penalties. I wouldn’t want to be in that position, to have to take three penalties in one game.

"I’d back Kedwell every day of the week to score a penalty but when it’s your third one of the game, the pressure must have been ridiculous.

"To be fair, it was a good save from Worgan. He was brave to stay down the middle. Not many goalies do that and he got a good hand to it. It was a decent save from a well-hit penalty."