Reid was given little space or respite by St Mullins’ Michael Walsh in the provincial decider in Portlaoise on Sunday.

It’s only a matter of months since St Mullins’ chances of doing something in Carlow were being written off. From there to here has been a victory in itself and yet Niall O’Donnell wasn’t about to look at it that way.

A routine day for Ballyhale. Only the opposition was novel.

Does tomorrow’s Leinster final between Ballyhale Shamrocks and Naomh Moling count as a local derby?

John Fogarty previews the weekend's GAA fixtures.

Seamus Murphy reckons St Mullins colleagues Marty Kavanagh and James Doyle would “walk onto every club in Kilkenny”.

Growing up, the only county games Marty Kavanagh went to were Kilkenny games and he was typically there for one reason, to watch Henry Shefflin.

Already trailing heavily with just 10 minutes on the clock at UPMC Nowlan Park, St Martin’s midfielder Aaron Maddock found himself hurley-less, surrounded and under pressure out on the left wing.

All-Ireland champions Ballyhale Shamrocks had to work hard to dispose of a gutsy Clonkill side in today's Leinster Club SHC quarter-final in Mullingar.

A superb solo individual performance from TJ Reid helped champions Ballyhale Shamrocks shake off a serious test to their Kilkenny senior hurling crown.

A five-star first-half performance saw Ballyhale Shamrocks blast their way out of relegation trouble in the Kilkenny senior hurling championship.

Offaly hurling defender Cillian Kiely has called on officials to appoint a ‘no-bullshit’ non-native manager, possibly from Kilkenny, to get them back on track.

When Henry Shefflin talked up Limerick’s All-Ireland credentials earlier this week, he kept referencing the spine of their team.

Ballyhale Shamrocks are AIB All-Ireland club SHC winners for a record seventh time after a power-packed Croke Park display proved far too much for an overwhelmed St Thomas'.

“Whatever it was, I wish we could have bottled it,” Liam Fennelly says.

Ballyhale Shamrocks weren’t exactly listing dangerously when Henry Shefflin took control of the bridge.

The hurlers of Midleton CBS bid to continue an excellent few weeks for the East Cork school when they take on Coláiste Eoin Stillorgan in today’s All-Ireland post-primary SHC quarter-final (Nowlan Park, 2pm).

A cold night in Thurles twisted decisively with one goal, Eoin Cody’s calm second-half finish for Ballyhale Shamrocks proving the difference in their All-Ireland club semi-final clash with Ballygunner.

Ballyhale Shamrocks made it to the All-Ireland senior club hurling final after this clash in Semple Stadium, Thurles with Ballygunner of Waterford.

They always remember the last man standing, the man with the match ball in his hand when the final whistle sounds. Wayne Hutchinson was that man in Thurles last November when Ballygunner finally claimed that elusive second AIB Munster club SHC title.

When we won the All-Ireland with Clare in 1995, the following year’s league kicked off that October. The celebrations obviously took their toll early in the campaign. We lost our first match to Kerry but the bank of fitness we’d built up stood to us as October segued into November. We went up to Birr and put on an exhibition against Offaly in our last match before the winter-break.

A summary of today's action in the AIB Leinster Club SHC semi-finals and the Ulster Football Senior Club Championship semi-finals.

KILKENNY SHC FINALBallyhale Shamrocks 2-20Bennettsbridge 2-17Brendan O’Brien Nowlan Park

Ballyhale Shamrocks may be one of hurling’s most decorated clubs, but tradition counts for little in the quest to build, develop and grow. A five-year fundraising drive was launched last week with TJ Reid and Joey Holden amongst those working to secure the future for the next generation of young talents. writes PM O’Sullivan

Henry Shefflin enjoyed a winning start to life in management as Ballyhale Shamrocks blitzed their way to the points in the Kilkenny senior hurling league.

A determined performance from Limerick saw them crowned All-Ireland U21 hurling champions for the second time in three years.

Ballyhale Shamrocks showed a never-say-die spirit to fight their way to a share of the points against Danesfort in the Kilkenny senior hurling league on Saturday.

Lacking immediate inter-county action to contemplate, I got thinking about tangles subsumed under the heading ‘tactics’. 

Fixtures planning expert Paul Kinsella has warned that alleviating the burden on club players will be considerably more difficult than has been portrayed this week.

Kilkenny senior hurling champions Clara will face off against leading title contenders Ballyhale Shamrocks for a place in this year's county final. 

All-Ireland club hurling champions Ballyhale have been beaten in the Kilkenny SHC semi-final, 2-15 to 2-13 by O’Loughlin Gaels.

A barrage of first half goals saw Ballyhale Shamrocks roar their way into the semi-finals of the Kilkenny senior hurling championship.

Brian Gavin, who will oficiate Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final between Kilkenny and Waterford, has been slapped with a proposed one-month ban for comments he made towards a match official after an Offaly club fixture.

Sean Kelly thinks it would be "a disaster" for the GAA to run off all its fixtures in the one calendar year.

Michael Fennelly easily accepted Henry Shefflin’s decision to retire from inter-county hurling as a return to the fold for a 17th season would have been "high risk".

With a bit of luck and good sense, the St Patrick’s Day finals in Croke Park will soon be consigned to history. Starting next year, the GAA’s leadership wants to play the All-Ireland club finals on the second Sunday of December, writes Paddy Heaney.

As far as motivations go, few are stronger than emulating those who have come before you in your club.

Ballyhale Shamrocks (Kilkenny) 1-18 v Kilmallock (Limerick) 1-18:

So much for pre-match expectations. Kilmallock had shown great resolve and commitment to win Munster.

Out of over 2,000 clubs in the country, they’re the two running onto Croker. It makes for one of the most glorious days of all