BOSS John Askey was frustrated with his Truro City side’s defending after they were beaten 4-0 on the road at promotion-chasing York City.

Most of the damage was done inside the opening 45 minutes when the Minstermen’s prolific hitman Ollie Pearce helped himself to a hat-trick.

Despite Truro’s struggles, they were much improved after the turnaround and went close to grabbing a lifeline through Luke Jephcott and Will Dean.

But gloss was put on a polished home performance inside the final 10 minutes when former Altrincham winger Alex Newby netted a fourth to leave the Tinners five points from safety in the National League.

“The first goal is, again, people not doing their jobs properly,” Askey said at full-time. “We just needed to stay with runners and be competitive and it’s frustrating to see the amount of goals that we conceded in that way.

“We had balls in the box that we’ve not dealt with because people switch off. That said, we knew it would be tough coming to York and we are not the only team to be defeated by a wide margin.”

Despite City’s winless run on their travels this term extending to 14 matches across all competitions, Askey took crumbs of comfort away from his side’s penultimate away trip of the calendar year.

“We have got to learn from these games,” he added. “Hopefully it will improve our players by playing against some of the best (opposition players) in the league.

“Also, our season will not be defined by this (result) so we immediately focus on the Yeovil game on Boxing Day. We will be ensuring that everyone is ready for the fight on Boxing Day.”

City’s cause was not helped by the early withdrawal for Shaun Donnellen because of injury, with Askey, who faced a club he has managed previously in York, confirming that the Livingston loanee had suffered a gash to his foot.

“An early prognosis on Shaun is difficult,” Askey revealed. “He’s had four stitches in a gash on his ankle so we will wait and see if he’s available for Yeovil.”