Conor Lane will be the man in the middle on All-Ireland final day

THE man in the middle for the All-Ireland senior football final between Mayo and Dublin on September 18 will be Conor Lane. It'll be the Cork man's first senior final.

'Thrilled, shocked and delighted' was how the Banteer/Lyre club man responded when the announcement was made today by the GAA.

Earlier this year, Lane refereed the All-Ireland senior club final between Mayo's Castlebar Mitchels and Dublin's Ballyboden St. Enda's, a game that went decisively in favour of the Dublin-based team.

On a better day for Mayo, Lane was in charge of the 2013 minor final when the westerners won the title with victory over Tyrone. He also refereed that year's Connaught senior final between Mayo and London and this year's drawn final between Galway and Roscommon. He also refereed the Connaught semi-final between Mayo and Galway and was again in charge when Galway were beaten by Tipperary in the All-Ireland quarterfinal.

“Once you get a quarterfinal your hat is in the ring and it could go with any of the four referees,” Lane said. “It was just my year this year. I'm just delighted for myself and my family, the umpires and club to represent them.

“You’ve to keep your feet on the ground, to do the best you can, to be as anonymous as you can be on the day. It is the players' day out, you apply the rules, I don't want to be seen or heard after if at all possible.”

Lane’s umpires are John Joe Lane, Pat Kelly, D.J. O’Sullivan and Ray Hegarty. “You'd be nowhere without the boys and they enjoy it as well,” said Lane.

The stand-by referee will be Maurice Deegan (Laois), with Joe McQuillan (Cavan) as linesman and Derek O’Mahony (Tipperary) as sideline official.

In charge of the minor final between Galway and Kerry will be Down’s Ciaran Branagan, a member of the Clonduff club. The minior final will start at 1.15 p.m. on Sunday, September 18, with the senior final to follow at 3.30 p.m.