Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Final hero Julia back for more
FINALS FIXTURES
JULIA WHITE popped up with the dramatic winner in last year’s senior camogie final but it was a remarkable success for the Cork attacker to even take part
It was towards the end of 2015 and the Cork attacker had the world at her feet. She had bagged her fourth All-ireland senior medal and started a new job teaching in Kilkenny city’s famed Loreto nursery.
Looking to make some friends in a new place, she joined up with a seven-aside soccer crew that included Anne Dalton and Denise Gaule. They were there the Saturday her Achilles tendon snapped and her troubles didn’t end there.
“It was a freak accident” recalls White. “When it first happened it felt like somebody kicked me. I turned around to look who had done it and there was nobody there. I just hopped back up – you’d be used to getting knocks.
“Then I went to run off and collapsed. You’re disconnected from your body, there was no support.”
The following year was a write-off. It is funny now that she uses the same term to describe 2017, even though her name will be indelibly linked with the campaign as she claimed her fifth title and Cork’s record 27th in the most dramatic fashion.
“It was going fine and then I fractured my foot around March, April. We didn’t pick up on it properly until June and I didn’t really get sorted until the end of July so that was a killer,” she said. “It was a race against time then. Obviously it ended nicely but 2017 was a bit of a write-off really.” Jack Mccaffrey, Con O’callaghan (inset with Niall Scully who started in 2018), Eoghan O’gara.
Paul Flynn, Kevin Mcmanamon, Diarmuid Connolly. Eoin Murchan, Niall Scully, Brian Howard. Michael Fitzsimons, Eoghan O’gara, Paddy Andrews.