Gavin slams RTÉ for ‘overdoing’ ref focus

The referee appointed to oversee this Saturday’s All-Ireland hurling final replay has slammed RTÉ’s analysis of Barry Kelly’s handling of the drawn fixture.

Brian Gavin accused The Sunday Game panellists of “overdoing” their scrutiny of Kelly’s display, claiming more time was afforded to the key calls made by the Westmeath official as there was no winning banquet to stream live from.

Kelly was the subject of much criticism following his decision to award Tipperary a free deep in injury time, penalising Kilkenny’s Brian Hogan for allegedly charging into Pádraic Maher.

The two penalty calls either side of the break, both awarded to Tipperary, were also heavily questioned.

“It’s disappointing the way they scrutinised the All-Ireland final,” Gavin told Midlands 103 yesterday.

“Just because they had no banquet for the teams, they decide to fill the programme scrutinising Barry Kelly’s performance and they did the same with my performance last year after the drawn final between Clare and Cork.

“I just think they’re overdoing it, we’re under enough pressure as it is.”