James Owens has been confirmed as the referee for this year's All Ireland senior hurling final.
The August 18 clash of Kilkenny and Tipperary will be the Wexford native's third hurling decider.
Owens was in charge for Kilkenny's last Liam McCarthy win in their 2015 final win over Galway. He also refereed last year's 3-16 to 2-18 victory for Limerick over Galway at Croke Park.
The final will be Owens' fourth outing of the summer, and his second involving Kilkenny. He oversaw the Cats' All Ireland quarter-final win over Cork at Croke Park last month. Owens was also in charge of Clare's win over Waterford on the opening weekend of the Munster Hurling Championship, as well as Limerick's trouncing of Clare in June.
Owens has been a man for the big occasion over the past year, as he also refereed this year's Allianz Hurling League final meeting of Limerick and Waterford on March 31.
His umpires on the day will be fellow Askamore clubmen James Dunbar and David Owens, along with Joe Kelly (Naomh Éanna) and Ian Plunkett (Marshalstown).
Carlow’s Paud O’Dwyer will be the standby referee. The other linesman is Johnny Murphy (Limerick) and the Sideline official will be Liam Gordon (Galway).
Another Carlow man in Patrick Murphy will be in the middle for the Electric Ireland Minor Final meeting of Kilkenny and Galway.
The Ballinkillen man has plenty of senior experience under his belt this summer, taking charge of Cork's All Ireland preliminary quarter-final hammering of Westmeath, and the meeting of Westmeath and Laois in the Joe McDonagh Cup.
All of Murphy's umpires hail from his Ballinkillen club, with Paddy Murphy Snr, PJ Farrell, Francie Dowling and Jason Curran all manning the posts.
Tipperary’s Fergal Horgan will be the standby referee, the other linesman will be Johnny Ryan (Tipperary) and the Sideline Official will be Thomas Walsh (Waterford).
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