Young referee takes charge of final - and continues family tradition

Tonight is a big night for the Smith family from Dunshaughlin and for the local GAA club.

Andrew Smith will take charge of the Leinster MFC final between Dublin and Kildare 23 years after his father Jim Smith took charge of the Leinster MFC final between Dublin and Westmeath at Croke Park.

Meath's interests in the competition came to an end last week when they were narrowly defeated by Kildare.

Smith has had a meteoric rise through the refereeing ranks since he took up the whistle in 2018.

Meath GAA chairman John Kavanagh congratulated Andrew on his appointment.

“On behalf of the Meath Management Committee and all the clubs in the county, I would like to wish Andrew and his team of officials all the best in the final on Wednesday evening. Since he took up the whistle in 2018, Andrew has been steadily progressing through the ranks of referees in the county and now also in Leinster," he said.

"He has taken charge of big games in the county including Feis Cup and Minor Football Championship Finals and Wednesday evening is another step forwards in his career as a referee.

Twelve months ago Patrick Coyle took charge of this fixture and it is a testament to the quality of referees we have in the county that there is a Meath referee in the Leinster minor final for the second year in succession.”