Referee Barry Kelly has drawn praise from Joe Dooley for his handling of last Sunday's Allianz Hurling League final between Kilkenny and Tipperary.

The Westmeath match official issued straight red cards to JJ Delaney (Kilkenny) and Lar Corbett (Tipperary) following a 45th minute altercation, but Dooley felt he had a good game overall.

"Barry Kelly was booed on a number of occasions from a partisan local crowd for decisions he gave against Kilkenny. It was an extremely fast and competitive game and while he might not have got all the calls correct, he still did a very good job," the former Offaly star and manager said on rte.ie

"It is a tough job to referee games of this nature where there is a huge rivalry and so many cameras and experts on the line. Not too many would put their heads on the block to referee these high-profile games. I did not always agree with referees (in fact, I probably nearly never agreed with a decision against me) but I would just say well done to Barry and all of the other top referees.

"A lot of work goes into promoting the standard of refereeing and it should be recognised." Tweet

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