Wicklow manager John Evans says the new three handpass limit rule in football serves to slow down the game considerably.

Evans’s side fell to a late 1-7 to 1-6 defeat at the hands of Longford in their opening O’Byrne Cup game last Saturday and, speaking to the Irish Independent afterwards, Evans was critical of the rule changes.

"What's happening is guys are just kicking the ball three or four yards, they are kicking it five and seven yards just for the sake of restarting it and it slows down the game considerably, there's no question about that," the Kerry native stated.

"Guys are trying to think what they will do and when they do and I suppose until the games speeds up a bit and have practised it a bit that you'll see the true worth of it - whether there is any worth in it."

He added: “From the three referees I have spoken to in our three games so far they have huge difficulty. They can't look elsewhere other than the three handpasses… If he gets it wrong and it leads to a score all hell will break loose. Further back the field it's not as bad."

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