MASON Munn says he was delighted to play his part between the posts this evening as Rangers got their hands on the Scottish Youth Cup with a 2-1 victory over Aberdeen at Hampden Stadium.
The 18-year-old goalkeeper produced a string of impressive stops to deny Aberdeen, including a heroic save to deny Alfie Bavidge an equaliser three minutes from time.
Speaking to RangersTV after the triumph, a clearly delighted Northern Irishman beamed: “It’s absolutely amazing because missing out last year, I just really, really wanted to do it this year.
“I mentioned it in previous interviews how much it meant to me to go and win it.
“I thought it was a big blow when we went 1-0 down, but we went up the other end and Findlay scored the penalty.
“And from that moment onwards, we had belief that we were going to win the game.
“I had to pull off a big save at 2-1 which meant a lot to the team, and I’m just glad that we won it.
“It was great to make a couple of good saves because it meant a lot to the team.
“My family travelled over last year and I didn’t play. It was a bit heartbreaking for them to see me on the bench, but I played my part this year.”
The young Gers had to show character in abundance after falling behind midway into the second half, but they never allowed their heads to drop and immediately responded through a Findlay Curtis spot-kick.
Josh Gentles then completed the turnaround moments later, and Munn says the second half response was a product of head coach Steven Smith reminding the players at half-time what they had put into the game.
He added: “It’s very tough, especially in a final. You can go 1-0 down and the crowd is against you – and you perhaps start doubting yourself at times – but the boys done really well.
“I thought we deserved to win the game overall, and there was only a ten-minute spell at the start of the second half where we weren’t great, but it’s how you deal with it and I thought we handled it well.
“He [Smith] was telling us to stay calm and reminding us that we were the better team.
“I thought the final pass in the first half was a big thing, trying to be more precise, but we were better in the second half in that regard.”