Derry football manager Paddy Tally says the new rule for goalkeepers is "killing the game" after his side lost out to Tyrone in their Allianz League opener yesterday.

Under the new rules designed by the Football Review Committee (FRC), goalkeepers can create an overload in the opposition's half, and with teams having to keep three outfield players in each half of the pitch, it means that an advancing goalkeeper can make it 12v11 for the attacking side.

Tyrone ‘keeper Niall Morgan deployed the tactic last night in the build-up to Peter Teague’s second-half goal for the Reds Hands as they saw off their neighbours by 2-13 to 1-9 at Healy Park.

"The 12th man is killing the game. It's as simple as that," Tally told BBC Sport NI afterwards. "That is no slight on any particular goalkeeper. Niall (Morgan) 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. The goalkeeper contributing and coming up the field, it is something we have to look at."

Tweet

Most Read Stories