James McGrath is in line to referee his second All-Ireland hurling final replay in 12 months.

The Westmeath official was the stand-by referee for last Sunday's drawn encounter between Cork and Clare and is one of four referees who will be considered to handle the September 28 decider, with Galway's Alan Kelly, Johnny Ryan of Tipperary and James Owens of Wexford the other match officials in the shake-up.

The elite hurling panel of referees was reduced from 12 to nine earlier this year. Five of those, including last Sunday's referee Brian Gavin, Westmeath's Barry Kelly - who is believed to be taking a break from refereeing following the death of his wife Catherine last week - and the remaining three from Cork won't be considered for the replay.

McGrath is the only one of the four in contention to have taken charge of a Liam MacCarthy Cup decider, but his controversial dismissal of Cork's Patrick Horgan in their Munster final defeat to Limerick - which he has stood over - could yet scupper his hopes of getting the big gig. Tweet

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