McKinstry delighted with gutsy Uganda

Johnathan McKinstry,

Tuesday Oct 15, 2019. 13:00

New Uganda coach John McKinstry was pleased with his side’s 1-0 victory over Ethiopia at the weekend, but admitted it was not the best performance from The Cranes.

The match was a first in charge for McKinstry and he will be pleased with the positiuve result, even if his side spent much of the game under pressure.

They had experienced goalkeeper and captain Denis Onyango to thank for the win as he pulled off a number of saves, but McKinstry believes the ‘backs-to-the-wall’ display will hold his side in good stead.

“The players showed good resilience and good robustness, and got the result at the end,” he told reporters. “It wasn’t pretty football but again, away from home, you’re not looking for beautiful football all the time.

“Sometimes you just have to dig in and when you get the lead you hold it and that is what they did well.”

Emmanuel Okwi scored the only goal after 20 minutes, with Uganda left to hold on for the remainder of the match in Bahir Dar.

It was the perfect start for new coach McKinstry, who will now take charge of the team in the African Nations Championship qualifiers, where they lead Burundi 3-0 with the home leg to come on Friday.

After that they will travel to Burkina Faso for the start of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, where Uganda have also been pooled with Malawi and South Sudan and will expect to advance.