Allianz Football League Division One, round one
Tyrone 2-13 Derry 1-9
PADDY Tally didn’t beat about the bush when asked for initial impressions of Gaelic football’s new rule enhancements - insisting “the 12th man is killing the game”.
Tally’s Derry side succumbed to his native Tyrone in Saturday night’s Division One opener in Omagh, but the focus of so much of the conversation will revolve around how the game now looks.
And while the rule regarding goalkeepers - brought forward by the Football Review Committee - prevents them receiving the ball in their own half as they move out the field, Niall Morgan still came forward to create an overload in the Derry half.
Indeed, on one such occasion, Morgan’s perfect pass unlocked the Oak Leaf defence before Peter Teague scored Tyrone’s crucial second goal.
And Tally feels it goes against what the rule enhancements are aiming to achieve.
“The 12th man is killing the game - it’s as simple as that,” said the Galbally man.
“That is no slight on any particular goalkeeper. Niall is a fantastic ‘keeper but it doesn’t make any sense. You wanted one to one battles and there were periods in that game today when the ball was just going back and forth across the field for two, three minutes at a time.
“It’s just a pointless rule - it doesn’t make any sense that you are now at the stage where it is nearly unfair to 11 versus 11, to add in a 12th. It just doesn’t make any sense.
“What actually happened with the second goal was the goalkeeper came up and because the players had to decide to go to the ‘keeper because he was at the two-point shooting arc, they dropped off the man behind.
“So it gets to the stage when you are asking what is the best thing to do. It’s great if you have a ‘keeper that can come up to do it, it is a bonus, but I don’t feel that’s the way the rule was meant.
“Are you going to drop the goalkeeper and have an outfield man in goals? It’s a hard rule to get right.”
Tyrone counterpart Malachy O’Rourke, who was part of the Football Review Committee led by former Dublin manager Jim Gavin, feels there is a risk that comes with the potential rewards of goalkeepers going forward.
“It was always there, the goalkeeper could always come out. Last year it was 15 versus 14, so it’s exactly the same thing only there’s less numbers up there.
“I just do think that if you start curtailing the goalkeeper too much, you’ll lose the goalkeepers. Obviously I was part of the committee that made the rules, and we just felt the goalkeeper in his own defence, getting the ball too much, led to an awful lot of possession play and a team couldn’t really push up.
“Whereas at least when he’s coming across the halfway line, he’s in a more advanced position, it’s an attacking opportunity, but there’s a lot of risk in it as well. You saw it today, if the ball breaks down, you have to get back.
“From our point of view, we just go with whatever’s there at the minute and try to play it as best we can.”
