Kilkenny captain looking forward to club hurling final

Kilkenny's captainT.J. Reid has said he cannot wait to take on Portumna in the All-Ireland Club Hurling Final.

The Ballyhale Shamrocks man said the last five minutes in their encounter with Newtownshandrum yesterday was "touch and go" - with the Southeast side eventually running out 19-17 winners.

Reid said: "It was an unbelievable win, the last five or 10 minutes was touch and go and I suppose we were delighted we got over it .

"If Newtown got a goal the last few seconds of the game we would have been done; but we're delighted."

Reid said Saturday's clash between Tipp and Kilkenny under the lights in Thurles is a mouthwatering prospect and a match he is looking forward to watching as he won't be playing until after the Club All Ireland Final.

"It'll be great to see Saturday's game in Thurles; it should be a real cracker; a repeat of last year's All-Ireland final. We won't be talking about any five in a row yet; but if we do it, it will be an unbelievable achievement."

In a repeat of last year's All-Ireland semi final it is sure to be a very close contest between two superb hurling sides.

"Portumna will be training hard; they are a good smart team and they won fairly handy on Sunday; but we'll have to up our performance by at least 10 % to beat them.

"It's going to be a cracker for us; especially for the spectators. Portumna v Shamrocks was last year' semi-final and it's going to be a tough day for us. They are a serious team and the talent they have on their team is phenomenal."

Cats captain T.J Reid was speaking with Beat Sport's Martin Clancy.