Down manager Paddy Tally believes the new experimental handpass rule “takes away the flow” from a football game.

Tally got to witness the new experimental rules in effect in a competitive match for the first time yesterday afternoon when his side went down to Cavan in a late 0-13 to 1-9 defeat at Kingspan Breffni, where Conor Madden’s long range point earned the hosts a winning start in the 2019 Dr McKenna Cup.

Speaking to The Irish News afterwards, the Mourne County boss illustrated that he was not a fan of the new limit of three handpasses before having to deliver a kickpass.

“I don’t know whether it’s the right rule to change – it’s one aspect that I wouldn’t be changing, it takes away the flow,” Tally stated.

“You can understand it if you want to move the ball quicker from defence to attack, but I think once you go inside the 45 the handpasses should be let run at that stage…

“Today we were caught four or five times for it but it doesn’t really bother me that much because it’s a sign that we were playing well as a unit. We’re trying to get the boys to play as a group, especially in the forwards, and that will happen if they’re linking and getting combinations going.”

On the new experimental rules as a whole, the Tyrone native added: “If they do decide to use them for the National League and then not for the championship, that’s going to be a bigger problem. They’re going to have to make a decision very quickly whether they’re going to run with it or not.”

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