Jury still out after new football rules road test

Connacht's 4-21 to 1-11 hammering of Leinster was not the ideal road test for the new rules devised by Jim Gavin's Football Review Committee

James Horan laughed that Connacht's 4-21 to 1-11 Interprovincial semi-final hammering of Leinster probably left "more questions than answers" for him and his Football Review Committee colleagues after the opening road test of gaelic football's proposed new rules at Croke Park.

Connacht's victory set up a final meeting on Saturday with Ulster who led throughout in the second semi-final against Munster although the margin was trimmed to 0-23 to 2-11 by the finish.

That was a four-point winning margin by dint of four points being awarded for a goal under the new rules devised by Jim Gavin and his committee.

The four-point goal rule was in operation within two minutes in the opening semi-final as Mayo star Aidan O'Shea hammered low past Stephen Cluxton.

As Leinster had simply no answer to Connacht early on, the game was effectively over before the end of the first quarter as successive two-point scores from outside the new 40-metre arc from Jack Carney and Diarmuid Murtagh put the westerners 1-9 to 0-0 ahead.

With Connacht having accumulated four two-pointers in comparison to Leinster's two, Horan admitted that the "disparity between the two teams" meant it was hard to glean too much in term of the overall value of the proposed new rules.

Three v three gets thumbs up

However, it did appear that the three v three rule aimed at preventing packed defences as both teams must keep a minimum three players in both halves did offer potential increased space for attackers.

"What jumped out was that the structure of the game was very different with three up and three back," said Horan, who was also doubling as one of Connacht's selectors in the resumption of the interpros for the first time since 2016.

"There was definitely something there in that there was always somebody to kick to and the kicking that happened. I thought that was good."

The former Mayo boss also pointed to Cluxton's early struggles with his kickouts amid the new stipulation that the ball must go outside the 40-metre arc with the Dublin great finding a team-mate on only one occasion from nine in the opening quarter as the game totally got away from Leinster.

"You saw a lot more contested kickouts. If you think there’s 40 or 50 kickouts per game so that will lead to more contests and more competition," added Horan.

"But you have to remember it’s a trial. Until we get this into a league format where teams have to win or they are facing relegation, that’s where you’ll really see it tested."

Stephen Cluxton's struggles on his kickouts early on contributed to Leinster's poor opening quarter against Connacht

Connacht manager Padraic Joyce concurred with Horan's view on the improvement that the three v three rule could bring to the aesthetics of gaelic football.

"It stops the lateral stuff so you are kind of forced to attack really. There is definitely more go forward ball," said Joyce, back at Croke Park three months after his Galway side's heartbreaking All-Ireland Final defeat by Armagh.

Joyce also welcomed the introduction of the solo and go, which wasn't in evidence much early on, before becoming more utilised as the opening semi-final went on.

"The 50-metre penalty (for offences such as deliberately preventing a quick free being taken) is a big one as well. It stops the cynical play. There are definitely some of them that should be kept."

Leinster found themselves a whopping 18 points in arrears (1-18 to 0-4) down after the opening two quarters and further four-pointers followed from Leitrim's Barry McNulty, Roscommon's Ciarain Murtagh and London's Liam Gallagher before Louth's Ciaran Byrne, by far the best performer for Dessie Dolan's side, netted in the closing minutes.

Connacht's substitute goalkeeper Conor Carroll charged upfield to set up McNulty's goal and this was an offensive tactic adopted later on to great effect in the second semi-final by Ulster keeper Niall Morgan.

Winning Connacht captain Enda Smith spoke of his support for Jim Gavin and his committee colleagues' attempts to improve the sport's spectacle.

"You follow any major sports, American sports, they are tweaking their sports all the time for the entertainment factor and whereas we might be a wee bit slow on that. I don’t know if it’s an Irish thing or not but I think it is coming," he added.

Armagh's Niall Grimley's late two-pointer helped Ulster hold off Munster in the second Interprovincial semi-final at Croke Park

After the totally one-sided nature of the first semi-final, a repeat did look potentially on the cards in game two when Kieran Donnelly's Ulster side led Munster 0-12 to 0-3 midway through the second quarter but a Sean Walsh goal cut the margin to 0-14 to 1-6 by half-time.

However with Tyrone man Mark Bradley contributing two points and Armagh All-Ireland winner Niall Grimley slotting only Ulster's second two-pointer after keeper Morgan's earlier effort, the northerners looked in control at 0-21 to 1-14 up before Diarmuid O'Connor's goal left them holding on at the finish.

Kerry player O'Connor burst through the Ulster defence to hammer past Morgan seconds after he had blasted a glorious goal chance over the bar from two yards out.

Points from Antrim's Marc Jordan and Derry's Niall Toner helped nudge Ulster's lead to four and fittingly man of the match Morgan sealed victory in the final play as he plucked a long ball out of the sky just before the final hooter went.

Friday evening's beaten provinces will meet in the shield final at headquarters on Saturday at 17:30 BST with the final throwing in two hours later.