Final countdown
McGRATH GETS THE WHISTLE
One of the many unwritten rules in the GAA is to appoint a different referee for All-Ireland final replays, which means James McGrath, who acted as a linesman and the standby referee for Barry Kelly in the drawn match, takes control of the whistle this time.
The Westmeath referee will be familiar to both Galway and Kilkenny, as McGrath was also in charge for their Leinster final meeting last July, which Galway won comfortably. Yet any accusation of potential bias can be quickly dismissed by the fact that McGrath was also in charge of this year’s league final, where Kilkenny comfortably beat Cork. Kelly has been retained as a linesman opposite Cork’s John Sexton.
