Waterford's Austin Gleeson free to face Galway in All-Ireland final

Austin Gleeson is free to play for Waterford in the All-Ireland Hurling final against Galway.

It has been reported that referee James Owens has informed the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) that he was happy with how he officiated Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final at Croke Park.

It means the Hurler of Year will face no retrospective punishment despite appearing to remove the helmet of Cork's Luke Meade.

Owens did send off Waterford’s Conor Gleeson along with Cork’s Patrick Horgan in the closing stages.

The decision comes after Gleeson’s team-mate Philip Mahony claimed Owens had addressed the matter at the time.

“Obviously, Conor is going to be a massive loss,” he said. “The one with Austin, it

happened right beside me and the referee, I’m fairly sure, told Luke Meade to put back on his straps. Some of the lads might say it looks worse slowed down, but I was right beside it and there was nothing in it.

“Because there was so much controversy over Adrian Tuohy and obviously Tadhg’s [de Búrca], I remember at the time the helmet came off I was worried for a second, but I was right on the scene and there was nothing in it. It’s a contact sport, these things are going to happen. If they start pulling up every time a helmet comes off, I think there’s going to be a lot of hassle over it. I’m sure, if you look at every game up and down the country, whether it be club or county, helmets come off. You see the hitting in it. I wouldn’t be worried about it.”