Neil McManus says the rule clarification regarding penalty-taking in hurling should be scrapped.

Since Central Council clarified that all penalties must be struck from outside the 21-yard line, it has become notoriously difficult for penalty-takers to find the back of the net. Cushendall ace McManus obliged in the second half of Sunday's Ulster club hurling championship semi-final replay win over Slaughtneil, but he yearns for a return to the times when the punishment for giving away a penalty was more often than not the concession of a goal:

"I was hitting the ball from 15, 16 yards out and if they were caught well they were going to the net, it was as simple as that. They would turn sticks in people's hands if you hit them," he tells The Belfast Telegraph.

"Now, you are taking the ball out to 26 metres or so, flicking it into the 21 and hitting it from there. You have to catch it sweet as a nut to hit the net now.

"I think they should bring it back. I thought it was great to see Anthony Nash coming up the field. I loved the drama of it. The drawn All-Ireland final, my father and I were at it and every time Nash went up the field, he was trying to avoid shoulders. It was drama!

"It was entertainment of the highest calibre and it was the best All-Ireland final I was ever at and that was a huge contribution to it."

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