Munster title was vital redemption for White and Dr Crokes

IN the absence of the TG4 cameras there was no official man of the match award presented for Sunday’s Munster Club Final but if there was Gavin White would surely have made any short-list of nominees - perhaps even won the award.

Still just 21 years old, White is rapidly evolving into a critical starter in the team and the anchor of the defence, so it was clear that he was delighted to win this Munster title in its own right. Memories of last year’s provincial final loss to Nemo Rangers are particularly painful for White - in the literal sense - as he sustained a serious enough injury that day in Paric Ui Rinn.

“We all wanted to come up here and get back to the Munster final after what happened last year. We were all very disappointed last year after the performance and we wanted to right those wrongs,” he said out on the Gaelic Grounds pitch.

“Of course it’s a step along the way to an All-Ireland Final in Croke Park hopefully, but coming up here today we had all eyes on the Munster final and that only.

“We had a very good start, but in fairness to Miltown the last ten minutes of the first half they came very much into it. The goal brought them right back into it and we knew we were still in a battle at half time. If you’re in a Munster final you’re there for a reason and we always respected Milltown for what they had. So we were expecting a big second half out of ourselves and out of Miltown so we definitely didn’t take anything for granted.

“Coming out for the second half our big idea was to target the first ten minutes and try to kill off the game and we did have them at arm’s reach for most of the second half. So, yeah, we’re very happy with our performance, and getting the cup and looking forward now to after Christmas.”

As to the next few weeks and on into the new year and bigger days ahead, White will take it all in that familiar stride of his.

“We’ll enjoy today’s win and then look forward to the next couple of games back home in Kerry and enjoy the Christmas. I suppose Pat (O’Shea) will set a plan in place for us over Christmas regards training and coming up to the All-Ireland semi-final. We’re not really thinking too far ahead at the moment, we’ll enjoy the win tonight.

“Up in Crokes we always set our standards high. I suppose our performance today wasn’t as high as what we pulled out against the Barrs (St Finbarrs) but we’re definitely very delighted with that we accomplished here today. Munster titles don’t come around every year and we’re still thrilled at what we did. We can now look forward to an All-Ireland semi-final and hopefully Croke Park.