Burrow and Byrne on target as Boston defeat Hereford to move up to fourth

They say the best things come to those who wait. Boston United climbed a place to fourth in the National League North following a tight 2-0 victory over Hereford.

The contest kicked off 30 minutes late after the Bulls' bus was caught in traffic, but come that belated full-time whistle the Pilgrims had the points in the bag... just.

Jordan Burrow's 17th-minute header and a last-gasp Shane Byrne penalty proved the difference as Boston made it three wins in eight days, although the Pilgrims were forced to defend for their lives for long periods in the second half.

However, the new-look defence kept just their second clean sheet of the season.

With Luke Shiels and Jake Wright snr sidelined with hamstring injuries, the Pilgrims handed a debut to 18-year-old Huddersfield Town loanee Loick Ayina.

Fellow new arrival Milan Lalkovic was named on the bench while Hereford arrived with new signing and ex-Pilgrims striker Pa Sulay Njie in their match day squad having signed prior to kick off.

Following the half-hour delay the contest got underway with United attempting to pile the pressure on the visitors, but apart from a succession of corners, the closest they cam,e was Tom Platt heading a Joe Leesley delivery wide.

The breakthrough came in the 17th minute with an instinctive close-range finish on the swivel from Burrow, slotting home after Fraser Preston's initial effort was blocked.

But for Bulls boss Josh Gowling the concern would have been the defending in the build up; that Peter Crook's long kick was allowed to bounce and Patrick Fini's attempted headed clearance looped towards his own goal to tee up Preston.

Chances were hard to come by but Tom Owen-Evans shot inches wide from an angled effort after Matt Tootle's attempted clearance struck teammate Shane Byrne in the face.