Belfast man Aaron Maguire had a stag do to remember this Sunday. Maguire was invited onto the pitch for Kilkenny's Leinster Hurling final win celebrations after being spotted by the Kilkenny players as he was dressed head to toe in a full Kilkenny kit.
Maguire who had no intentions of interacting with the team, was simply dressed up as the Ballyhale supremo as he spent the day walking through Dublin fully kitted up as part of his stag do.
The stag party had a running joke all day that Maguire was a player who was late for the final, they never believed their joke would actually draw the attention of the Kilkenny players, especially Reid.
''The whole thing was to dress up as TJ Reid like I walked through Dublin for the day," Maguire told Balls.ie on Monday. "Like hurl and stick and helmet. And that was really all that was planned.''
''So I came in and I asked the steward you know where do the players go. We were running that joke all day, asking different people, 'where do the players go, and where are the changing rooms, I'm late'. Everyone thought it was very good.''
The Bredagh club hurler was dressed head-to-toe in Kilkenny gear, which drew attention from everybody both on and off the pitch. Maguire spoke with us about how he managed to get onto the pitch and secure a memorable photo with Kilkenny legend TJ Reid.
''After the final whistle, the Kilkenny team spotted me and they were laughing, they thought it was hilarious. It was them who asked security to let me on. So it was them, they spotted me''.
🤣 @BredaghGAC1 hurler on stag dresses up as Kilkenny hurler, slips security, and poses with TJ Reid pic.twitter.com/O4guAQKz00
— OurGame.ie (@OurGameHQ) June 12, 2023
'Wish.com's version of TJ Reid'
TJ Reid was one of Kilkenny's star players on the day, scoring nine points, six of them from frees. Speaking about his interaction and photo with Reid, Maguire has nothing but good words to say.
''When they were on the pitch, I could see them pointing to TJ, going 'look!' and then he saw the funny side of it and brought me on, which was fantastic!''
''He (Reid) was so down to earth, asking me if I’m all set for the wedding, if I had a good day and what my plans were for the evening. He thought it was fantastic too. I said to him 'this is what happens when you ordered TJ off wish.com and he thought it was very good. it was class!''
''I had to get one of the Kilkenny players (Shane Walsh) to take the photo. I said 'I know you’ve just won a Leinster final but can you take a photo of me, please?' It was a bit surreal, but they took it in really good humour, which was fantastic.''
Missed Opportunity
Although Maguire couldn't be more grateful for the day and opportunity he had, getting to go on and interact with Reid and the rest of the Kilkenny players, there was one thing he wished he had done once he got onto the pitch.
''I was probably on for about 5 minutes... I hit frees in hurling so I would've loved to, looking back now I should have lifted a ball over the bar or something like that.
Maybe next time.''
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