Gavin gives final guarantee

MUIRIS GAVIN doesn't need to trawl the memory banks to recall the bad old days of Limerick football.

Defeats to the likes of London and Kilkenny were just some of the low points from the last decade, in an era when the hurlers were one of the dominant forces in Munster and beyond.

How times have changed.

The hurlers face a long summer watching from the sidelines while 26-year-old Gavin, a veteran of this team, is 70 minutes away from that coveted Munster senior championship medal.

"It's well documented that this team has been in the making over the last half a dozen years, and we as a group knew that something was in the offing long before you media guys latched on to it," he smiles.

"Most people refer back to the 2000 U21 Munster final victory, but most of us were on minor teams which lost successive Munster finals to Kerry.

The 1997 one in particular was in controversial circumstances when we had a goal disallowed after the ball came back off the stanchion inside the net."

The foundation stones were there waiting to be crafted into something special. The wait was short-lived.

"Liam Kearns came in after that and pulled those two minor squads together to get the U21 team which won the championship in 2000. His appointment was the final piece of the jigsaw."

Kearns' work was not confined to building their footballing talents. Psychology and character building were key aspects of his plan.

"We have been through a lot together since. After a couple of heartbreaking senior defeats, like the Division Two league and the Munster finals of 2003, we now know what it takes, what is expected of us and what we expect of each other.

"Liam has taken us to where we are today, and it's vital now that we justify the faith he has shown in us by beating Kerry on Sunday.

"Nothing less will compensate for the amount of time and effort he and all the squad have put in over the last five years in particular."

Twelve months ago Limerick found themselves in this position, and while Gavin doesn't need any reminding that he and his colleagues failed miserably, he does offer an explanation for what happened in Killarney.

"Firstly, we built that final up too high for ourselves through lack of experience of such occasions. Secondly, we had them on the run early in the game but we failed to capitalise and when the scores weren't coming, we lost our composure and became very demoralised.

"Kerry, on the other hand, because of their vast experience, can always ride out the difficult stages of a game, something we couldn't do, until now. There has been a lot of experienced gained over the past 12 months.

The composure I spoke about earlier was seen to great effect in the opening round this year against Tipperary when we conceded three first half goals.

"Liam Kearns has set the bar higher and higher each year for us and so far we have responded.

"We have been through so much as a group it's essential to have something tangible to show for our efforts."