Striker Craig Farrell was shaking his head in disbelief at the end of the Conference clash after Panther deprived him of a rare brace by applying a needless finishing touch to his stoppage-time chip.
But afterwards McEwan preferred to concentrate on the box-to-box run made by Panther before the goal that he felt bore testament to his skipper's commitment levels.
The City manager said: "We broke very well at times and the highlight was the second goal. It was a great ball by young Rob Elvins, Craig then did their keeper a treat before Manny came from nowhere to put it over the line.
"Craig is not very happy about that but Manny was up there still strong in the 93rd minute and that's him to a tee."
Farrell had earlier given City a 26th-minute lead against the run of play with McEwan admitting that his team rode their luck at times.
But, with play-off rivals Oxford and Exeter both losing, he also stressed that results become more important than performances at this stage of the season.
McEwan added: "We put in a great battling performance. It wasn't a vintage display by any means but we showed grit and determination.
"Aldershot were a bit unlucky not to get something out of the game and we could have been 2-0 down in the first ten minutes but we have played well in other matches and ended up with nothing. We defended stoutly and, at other times, hairy-scarily but we got two class goals.
"We worked hard and kept our shape very well under a barrage of attacks. It was a crucial win for us because we will play games from now until the end of the season when it will not be about performances, it will be about results.
"We are at the business end of the season when prizes are handed out and if we want to stay in the mix, where we are now, then we have got to live the life of athletes and the end of the season could be very interesting."
McEwan also hailed an "excellent" away record that has now seen his side take maximum points ten times on their travels this season.
Source: www.yorkpress.co.uk