Margate boss Nikki Bull declared Monday's draw at Dartford as a point gained for his improving side.

Bull saw Freddie Ladapo put the Blues in front at Princes Park before Elliot Bradbrook's close-range effort early in the second half pegged the visitors back.

But despite losing the lead, Margate and their new manager were satisfied with a share of the spoils.

"It’s definitely a point gained," Bull said. "Coming into the fixture, I was aware that out of my first three games, this would be the toughest one.

"If you look at Dartford’s form over the last six to eight weeks, they’re unbeaten, winning games, bullying teams. I knew it would be a big physical game for us and I thought the boys coped with it well.

"If you’d offered me 1-1 before the game, I’d have definitely taken it. There are no complaints from me but there’s always a tinge of disappointment when you get your noses in front and get pegged back."

The lively Ladapo played the lone striker role to perfection in the first half, giving Dartford's defenders all manner of problems before finally hitting the back of the net.

Bull said: "Freddie’s always going to cause teams problems.

"We identified that Dartford have been getting a lot of joy over the last few weeks by outnumbering teams in midfield so we changed it slightly out of respect to the opposition, accepting their strengths.

"We played five in midfield and I thought that apart from set plays, they didn’t create too much.

"Their keeper made a couple of great saves in the first half and we had a 10-minute period where, if we’d scored two or three, it wouldn’t have been an untrue reflection of the pressure we were putting on them.

"I’m very happy with the players and the commitment and the energy they showed."