hurling

Brian Gavin to referee All-Ireland SHC Final

25 May 2018 - 2:19PM

Brian Gavin will referee the All-Ireland SHC Final between Kilkenny and Tipperary.

By John Harrington

The GAA has confirmed that Brian Gavin will referee the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final between Kilkenny and Tipperary on September 4.

This will be the Offaly native’s fourth senior assignment having previously refereed the 2011 Final between Kilkenny and Tipperary, the drawn 2013 Final between Clare and Cork, and the replayed 2014 Final between Kilkenny and Tipperary.

Westmeath’s Barry Kelly will be the standby referee with Colm Lyons (Cork) as the other linesman and John Keane (Galway) the sideline official.

The GAA has also confirmed that John Keenan of the Aughrim club in Wicklow will referee the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Final between Tipperary and Limerick.

Carlow’s Paud O’Dwyer will be the stand-by referee, the other linesman is Colum Cunning (Antrim), and the sideling official will be Gearoid McGrath (Wexford).

Brian Gavin’s appointment as referee for the Senior Final comes as little surprise after an impressive season to date officiating a number of high-profile matches.

He was the man in the middle for the All-Ireland Quarter-Final between Galway and Clare, the Munster Final between Tipperary and Waterford, and the Leinster Senior Hurling Semi-Final between Dublin and Kilkenny.

The Clara clubman admits he’s looking forward to officiating the biggest hurling game of the season for the fourth time in six years.

“I’m absolutely thrilled, it’s a great honour, not just for me, but for the umpires that work with me,” Gavin told GAA.ie. “My father (Michael), my brother (David), PJ Lawlor from Ferbane, and William Flynn from my own club Clara. They’ve been with me for a long time now, since I first officiated at inter-county level in the League, and you build up a great bond and understanding together.

“Officiating in an All-Ireland Final is the pinnacle, so it means an awful lot. This is my fourth one now, but each one means as much as another. If you could, you’d referee the All-Ireland Final every year.

“Obviously this is a bit different in so far as it’s five years since my first one since 2011 and I’ve gotten a lot of experience in between and you become more level-headed. But regardless of whether it’s your first or your fourth All-Ireland, to get that call is hugely exciting.

“It’s a great honour for me, a great honour for my club Clara, and it’s nice for Offaly as a county as well to have a presence in an All-Ireland Final because we’ve been in the doldrums for a few years.”

Brian Gavin

The 39-year-old Gavin has already 20 years of refereeing experience behind him, and rose through the ranks with impressive speed.

“I think I first referred a challenge match when I was 19 or 20 and someone said to me afterwards that I had done a good job and should consider taking up refereeing,” says Gavin.

“By the age of 23 I had refereed the county senior football final between Rhode and Edenderry. The following year I had refereed the county senior hurling final, so I made the breakthrough fairly quickly.

“I had refereed three All-Ireland Semi-Finals before I got the opportunity to referee my first Final in 2011, so it was a relief to finally get there.”

That 2011 All-Ireland Final was a typically full-blooded clash between Kilkenny and Tipperary, and Gavin found himself caught in the middle when he was accidentally struck on the nose by a flailing hurley.

“Yeah, I suppose that belt on the nose from Tommy (Walsh) wasn’t something I would have planned for and there would have been a moment of shock where you’re wondering if this was going to be end of the Final for you,” he admits. “But thankfully I got patched up quickly and was able to get on with things.”

Gavin was the man in the middle again when Kilkenny and Tipperary played one another in the 2014 All-Ireland Final replay, so he knows exactly what sort of high-octane contest to expect from two of hurling’s great rivals on September 4.

“You know when Tipperary and Kilkenny play that it’s going to be end to end stuff,” he says. “I’ve refereed them both this year and they’re definitely playing the game at a higher pace.

“I’ve worked extremely hard on my fitness this year and I think I’m fitter now than I’ve ever been before so I’d be confident in my ability to be able to keep with the pace of the game.

“Niall Moyna in DCU has developed a new training programme for the referees and everyone has really enjoyed it. We had a couple of fitness tests earlier in the year and we changed our training out to Abbotstown, everyone is really enjoying it, and there’s a good buzz there now. The training is excellent.

“We’re doing a lot of 60 and 80 metre runs and replicating game situations. I’ve found great benefit in the new training programme that we’ve had.”

Much like the players themselves, the match officials for the All-Ireland minor and senior finals do all they can to be mentally and physically ready for the big day and will come together for a meeting in Croke Park next week to fine-tune their preparations.