YORK City boss Steve Watson has vowed to rid the club of the “unreliable” streak that is curtailing progress under his tenure.

The upset Minstermen chief admitted he found the nature of his a 3-2 home defeat to Spennymoor “unbearable” as his side conceded two more goals from set-pieces before Ryan Hall’s 78th-minute winner rendered Alex Kempster and Sean Newton’s efforts futile.

Despite keeping National League North’s 29-goal leading marksman Glen Taylor quiet, 13th-placed City shipped efforts from both Spennymoor centre-backs James Curtis and Scott Harrison at corner kicks.

That followed on from winning positions twice being surrendered after dead-ball deliveries at Chester and Watson, now three-and-a-half months into his job as City chief, fumed: “People did not do their jobs and were unreliable, which is why we are where we are.

“It’s not as if the players can’t cope with the physicality and they do have technical ability, but we’ve conceded five goals in two games and it’s all come down to people knocking off and not focussing for 90 minutes, which isn’t good enough by any stretch. I’m totally bemused as to why that should keep happening and I have to get to the bottom of it and I will do.

“I totally understand the frustration with how this season has panned out because, in the short space of time I’ve been here, I’m starting to feel exactly the same. I’m quite a level-headed and laid-back manager, but this performance really did show me exactly what we need to do next season.

“Our goals have to be good goals, but the ones we concede are going in direct or from second phases at set-plays and from people not following 30-yard runs. Teams are just preying on our mistakes, not beating us through good football and that’s not something I’m used to or am willing to allow going forward into next season.

“I can accept somebody standing on a ball and falling over but, when it’s down to somebody not doing their jobs properly, it’s unbearable. Apart from Stockport and Chorley, I don’t think we’ve played a team yet who I’d consider to be better than us, but there are reasons why we are where we are and, looking forward, I need people I can rely on.”

City adapted well to a switch to Watson’s favoured 3-5-2 formation, making all the early running, with Josh Law recalled in the centre of defence and Kempster dropping to the bench.

With his team trailing 1-0 at half-time, Watson reverted to 4-3-3, but did not think either system was responsible for the eventual defeat.

“I thought we created four or five absolutely clear-cut chances in the first 45 minutes and Macaulay Langstaff could have had a hat-trick,” he argued. “They didn’t create much either.

“Josh Law is a senior pro, who’s had a good career. He had also trained well and has got his head down and waited for an opportunity and, I think, if he’s going to play anywhere for me, it would be in that position in that system.

“Alex Kempster had been quiet in a couple of games recently by his standards, so he started on the bench, but I brought him on at half-time because we needed a goal, not because of the formation and he got us one.”

Veteran striker Jon Parkin was missing from the bench against Spennymoor due to a knock picked up in training.