Sparkling Shamrocks turn the tide to defeat Ballygunner in All-Ireland Semi-Final showdown

It's set to be a cracking Christmas in Ballyhale after the Shamrocks produced a vintage display in defeating the defending All-Ireland champions Ballygunner at Croke Park.

The three point semi-final victory helped the 5 in a row Kilkenny champions gain a bit of revenge for last February's All-Ireland final defeat to the same opposition.

Despite having eight All-Ireland crowns to their name, this will still go down as one of the Shamrocks great victories and it rounds off their 50th year in the perfect fashion.

Despite the narrow winning margin, Shamrocks were very much the better side over the course of the 60 minutes and if it wasn't for Ballygunner goalkeeper Stephen O'Keeffe producing a number of stunning saves, the margin would have been more secure.

Goals were always going to be crucial and it was TJ Reid's netted penalty in the 46th minute that eventually seperated the sides.

TJ's winning goal was even more noteworthy given the fact that O'Keeffe had only saved a previous penalty two minutes earlier.

Shamrocks raced out of the blocks in the early minutes and even though both Darren Mullen and Joey Cuddihy went off with first half injuries, the winners led 0-3 to 0-0.

Ballygunner showed their champion spirit to get back level at 0-4 each by the ninth minute and it was tight all the way till the half-time whistle (0-11 to 0-11).

Shamrocks will have felt that they should have been ahead after both Colin Fennelly and Adrian Mullen missed big goal chances.

The second half had much less scoring but it was at the top table for the dramatic stakes and after Eoin Cody knocked over the first of his two points in the 41st minute, Shamrocks moved into a lead they would never relinquish.

Ballygunner kept battling away but once TJ converted a penalty after originally been fouled in the square, it was always going to take something exceptional to topple the Shamrocks.

Dessie Hutchinson, Kevin Mahony and Paraic Mahony knocked over late points for Ballygunner but after TJ knocked over a pair of frees, Shamrocks did enough to secure their place in next month's All-Ireland decider against Dunloy of Antrim.

Teams and Scorers

Shamrocks- TJ Reid (1-8, 0-8f), Eoin Cody (0-2), Ronan Corcoran, Paddy Mullen, Adrian Mullen, Eoin Kenneally, Colin Fennelly, Joey Cuddihy (0-1 each)

Ballygunner- Pauric Mahony (0-6, 0-4f), Dessie Hutchinson (0-4), Patrick Fitzgerald (0-2), Ronan Power, Conor Sheahan, Mikey Mahony, Kevin Mahony (0-1 each)

Shamrocks- Dean Mason; Darren Mullen, Joey Holden, Killian Corcoran; Evan Shefflin, Richie Reid, Darragh Corcoran; Ronan Corcoran, Paddy Mullen; Adrian Mullen, TJ Reid, Joey Cuddihy; Eoin Kenneally, Colin Fennelly, Eoin Cody.

Subs- Brian Butler for D.Mullen 4 mins, Niall Shortall for Cuddihy 12 mins, Conor Walsh for Kenneally 62 mins.

Ballygunner- Stephen O'Keeffe; Ian Kenny, Barry Coughlan, Tadhg Foley; Shane O'Sullivan, Philip Mahony, Ronan Power; Conor Sheahan, Paddy Leavey; Pauric Mahony, Mikey Mahony, Peter Hogan; Patrick Fitzgerald, Kevin Mahony, Dessie Huthchinson.

Subs- Billy O'Keeffe for M.Mahony 48 mins, Harry Ruddle for Fitzgerald 54 mins.

Referee- Liam Gordon (Galway)