With the great news that two of our own, Mikey Bambrick and Ross Dunphy, were to be involved with Leinster in the Inter-Provincial Series to trial the Football Review Committee recommendations, interest levels in attending spiked.
With one being literally our own – Mikey, being both club and family – and next-door neighbor Chairman Michael Meaney (as opposed to Jukebox and Foxy of the same name and family!) being on the said committee, Jones’s Road on an October Friday evening was definitely being visited.
When you’re younger and your mother says you’re related to such and such a man, woman, or child, it pays to remember these snippets for possible future reference. Her mother Elizabeth (my grandmother, Mikey’s great grandmother), being a Connolly from Kilquiggan just over the Wicklow border from Hackettstown, the famed Clonmore, Carlow and Railway Cup player (winner in 1961) Paks being her first cousin – a phone call to my Aunt Ita in Stradbally confirming all the above!
Paul Rouse, in the match programme, chronicled the rule changes from 1885 to the present day. There were some peculiar ones, like being 21 a side and both teams in for the throw-in, to a goal outweighing any number of points, making conceding a scuttery goal even more undesirable.
With some 20 changes to the rules, there was plenty of interaction throughout with a knowledgeable Westmeath man nearby. From the visible ones, such as the dotted halfway line, the 40m arc, to the “at all times 3 up front” rule, these were self-explanatory. The sight of the referee running 50m up the field for dissent also became quite familiar. The solo and go, a byproduct of this, could be imagined closer to home with Conor Doyle or Choo Choo adding this to their arsenal.
The new value for a goal meant your 3 times tables from primary school were now replaced by the 4. The 2-point arc, also just for a while, took a little getting used to along with the white/red flag combination when one was landed from the required distance.
The sight of 1 v 1 at midfield for the throw-in also meant a spare midfielder on each sideline but joining in immediately. As expected, the scoring rate was upped due to the obvious combination. With at least 3 v 3 at all times in each half, meaning at most 11 v 11 in the other half, there was no plus 1 or 2 to clog space – heaven for those in old money jersey numbers 13 to 15, and a scare for members of an orthodox full back line. This, along with the goalkeeper being only allowed to receive possession in his own area (or the other half of the field), changed the dynamics.
With the 50m penalty for not retreating immediately from a foul, you needed to jump from tackling like Jonny Cooper to being Jilly Cooper on the blow of the referee’s whistle. The referee also not having a time limit on the advantage rule and a can of vanishing foam in the back pocket to mark the awarding of frees inside the 65m line – some of the above wouldn’t have suited the Roy Keane led Manchester United under Alex Ferguson!
Throughout his career, Stephen Cluxton changed the art of goalkeeping, but even he found getting his kicks away difficult, showing that every day is a school day no matter who you are. With the extra points on offer, each possession lost at this level came with extra punishment on the scoreboard, and Connacht did this with impunity.
With Mikey playing the first quarter as one of the defensive three, he managed one trademark run forward, drawing a foul on the Connacht 45m line. He also played the fourth quarter on Saturday versus Munster, executing a vital block with the game in the balance and just missing a shot at the posts.
Meanwhile, Ross was as usual very composed on the ball in his 30 minutes against the men from the West. Calmness in possession was more important now with the attacking-based advantages these trialed rules, that may become law in the coming months, offer.
The 2-point score, in particular, was hit with more regularity in all games over the weekend than it would be if only worth one. Though, can we maybe look at the punched point getting the Spring/Summer off? The 4-point goal might also possibly make the rich richer and the poor poorer – jury is out on that one here.
With the 15-minute quarters only being for the weekend, it nonetheless focused more on the countdown nature of it, with teams possibly needing to get a shot off or retain possession as the clock wound down. Though the hooter could be toned down a bit – unconfirmed reports claim Padraig Amond could hear it in nearby Tolka Park as he stepped up to score from the spot for Waterford United v Shels on Friday!
If and when changes come, the big question on most lips was how a lone referee can monitor, say, the 3 v 3 in a club game with no one (neutral) doing the line, along with who marks the C (the new arc) along with the existing D. The inter-county game, though, will have to be the platform for any initial trialing.
A most enjoyable evening it was on Friday- a lot to take in, but you’ll never know unless you go!
