Asked for his take on the goalkeeper rule, Tyrone boss Malachy O’Rourke said “there was a couple of ways to look” at it.
“It was always there, the goalkeeper could always come out. Last year it was 15 versus 14, so it’s exactly the same thing only there’s less numbers up there,” said O’Rourke, who had been a member of the FRC before stepping down to focus on his duties with Tyrone.
“I just do think that if you start curtailing the goalkeeper too much, you’ll lose then goalkeepers. Obviously I was part of the committee that made the rules, and we just felt the goalkeeper in his own defence, getting the ball too much, led to an awful lot of possession play and a team couldn’t really push up.
“Whereas at least when he’s coming across the halfway line, he’s in a more advanced position, it’s an attacking opportunity, but there’s a lot of risk in it as well. You saw it today, if the ball breaks down, you have to get back.
“From our point of view, we just go with whatever’s there at the minute and try to play it as best we can.”
