'A proud moment': TJ Reid on toppling Cork's Patrick Horgan to become all-time top scorer

With the last score of the game from a placed ball Reid pushed ahead of Horgan at the top of the all-time championship scoring chart with 41-657 (780) to the Corkman’s 32-683 (779)

25 April 2026; Young supporters surround TJ Reid of Kilkenny as he signs autographs after the Leinster GAA Senior Hurling Championship Round 2 match between Kilkenny and Wexford at UPMC Nowlan Park in Kilkenny. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile

From the Kilkenny dressing room came the applause, followed by cheers, followed by a shout or two of “TJ”.

Oh captain, my captain, with the last score of the game from a placed ball Reid pushed ahead of Patrick Horgan at the top of the all-time championship scoring chart with 41-657 (780) to the Corkman’s 32-683 (779).

Manager Derek Lyng hailed the character of Reid on another relieving evening for Kilkenny. “It's how he carries himself, it’s how he’s carried himself for his whole career and he's still doing it.

“TJ would say himself that today wasn't about that, it was about getting the win. That was the most important thing but it's a credit to him and he's not finished.”

Reid himself said he wasn’t aware he had broken the record at the time, scoring a goal in additional time to tie Horgan before his closing free put him at the top of the tree.

But as his wife Niamh and children Harper Mary and Seán Óg joined him under the Ted Carroll Stand afterwards, he had a sense of what he had just achieved.

“I was only notified after the game, so look, it's obviously a proud moment for myself, for the family I suppose as well. It's not about me, the reaction that we got today, the response we got today was a more positive thing. I don't know how long I'll have it. Records are always there to be broken, so look, it's nice to have it for the time being.” 

He continued: “These things are for the mantelpiece. We’re all chasing something different this year. It’s all about the team. If we pick up awards along the way, that’s great.”

Reid was delighted with his team’s response to the 15-point hammering in Salthill the previous weekend and now Kilkenny’s scoring difference is back in the black.

"We underperformed in Galway, and this week there's an awful lot of pressure. And rightly so, and media experts writing us off. But look, rightly so, it was a bad performance, you're entitled to your opinion. And we knew that there was more in us, we knew that, we stayed positive. We missed six goals against Galway, and momentum shifted.”

Reid insisted Kilkenny weren’t concerned by the Galway result but there were obviously conversations in the aftermath of it. 

“You didn’t need an expert to tell us we underperformed. It was a long bus journey home and you had a lot of problems solved by the time you got home. It was about sharpening the mind and getting the energy up.”