Gor Mahia coach Jonathan McKinstry has bragged the FKF Premier League champions are way much better than last season after they defeated Ulinzi Stars 1-0 in their second fixture of the campaign on Saturday.

New signing Kevin Simiyu made the difference in the game at Ulinzi Complex after he scored in the 29th minute off a corner from another new player Patrick Sibomana. According to the 38-year-old McKinstry, who helped K’Ogalo to lift their historic 20th league title last season, the performance of his players in the game against the Soldiers is a clear testament they have made a huge step forward and are far much better than last season.

“Last season we drew this game 1-1 against Ulinzi Stars and last year we had 14 games that we didn’t pick maximum points and we challenged ourselves to turn those draws into wins and turn the loses to at least draws, so today was one of those days, last year was a point, this year was three points,” said McKinstry.

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Asked whether Gor Mahia’s trajectory is on the upward trend, the Northern Irish tactician said: “I think man to man we have got good talent in the team, we made sure we recruited in the right areas and if you look at people like Rogers (Mugisha), he is only 20 years old, you can see the talent he has for such a young man, Patrick (Sibomana) another top player and even guys like Kennedy Onyango, he has been around for a long time and knows what we want, overall I think we have taken a step forward from last year.”

When the league resumes after the Fifa international break, Gor Mahia will host Nairobi City Stars on September 17 while Ulinzi will travel to Mombasa to take on Bandari FC.