Paul Hurst slammed his side following their victory at Durham City, claiming the Pilgrims' tepid display left him bored on the touchline.

Boston United were given a huge scare by point-less City before finally triumphing 4-1 in the north east to move up to second in the UniBond League Premier Division.

Boston goal scorer Spencer Weir-Daley.

Spencer Weir-Daley's hat-trick and a debut goal for Ryan Semple were two of the few positives to come out of the game for Hurst.

United's joint-boss was particularly critical of their first-half display which saw Conor Winter's 30-yard scorcher haul Durham level following Weir-Daley's cracking opener.

The Pilgrims retook the lead through Weir-Daley on the stroke of half-time and two early second-half goals ensured a comfortable victory in the end.

But it wasn't enough to satisfy a disgruntled Hurst.

"I wasn't impressed one little bit," said the former Ilkeston joint-boss.

"One or two of the lads can take positives from it, but overall I was pretty bored on the touchline. I didn't enjoy the afternoon at all.

"Overall, we played well for about 10 minutes out of the 90 and that's not enough. The lads know the standards we aspire to and we were nowhere near that.

"Whether we'd won 10-0 (the score when the sides met at York Street in January) or 4-1, we get the same number of points, but I wasn't happy with the way we achieved it.

"We didn't pass the ball and in the first half and we struggled at times to get out of our half.

"The wind was blowing against us, but I don't want to use that as an excuse and I don't think the players should either.

"We just never got into gear. Their lad (Winter) scored a great goal to make it one each and we were lucky to edge in front before half-time.

"I don't think we played with any tempo. When we did raise it, we got our couple of goals in the second half.

"Durham were certainly better than when we played them at home. But I look at us and we weren't close to what we expect."

Other results went United's way on Saturday. Boston moved up to second after previous top two, leaders Bradford Park Avenue and Retford, drew 1-1.

The Pilgrims are now just four points behind Bradford and face a critical promotion showdown at third-placed Retford tomorrow night.