TJ Reid: Losing to Ballygunner would have tarnished Ballyhale Shamrocks' legacy

TJ Reid believes Ballyhale Shamrocks recent glorious run would have been tarnished if they had lost to Ballygunner in last season's All-Ireland club semi-finals.

The nine-in-a-row Waterford champions stopped Ballyhale from recording the first national three-in-a row when they won the 2022 final with a last-minute goal.

When the sides met again last December, Ballygunner were marginal favourites, something that the Kilkenny star says severely grated on Shamrocks.

"That was special," he said of the 1-16 to 0-16 win that set up a final meeting with Dunloy. "That was a victory because we were being written off.

"Two quality teams. They've won nine in a row, we’ve achieved five in a row. So two massive, massive clubs.

"Everyone was talking about Ballygunner being the best club team ever. It was a bit disrespectful after what our club Ballyhale Shamrocks has achieved over the last 10 years. Ballygunner beat us in the final a year ago so to get revenge… revenge is sweet when it works out.

"That game meant a lot to the parish of Ballyhale - it hurt them as well that people were speaking so little of Ballyhale Shamrocks and regarding Ballygunner as the favourites. No fault of Ballygunner, the media and the press were highlighting that.

"That was probably the biggest game I’ve played in terms of the hype and what’s at stake because we felt as a club, if we lost that game, everything that we’ve done over the last five years would have been tarnished."

Ballyhale went on to beat the Antrim men by a seven-point margin that was more flattering than the scoreline suggests.

"For the Ballygunner game, it was being said they were favourites, we were the underdogs. Straight away, for the final it was "you'll beat Dunloy" or "it’s an easy one for us…