Doherty: advantage rule is the big one
January 03, 2014
Meath's Stephen Bray seeks an explanation from referee Sean Carroll after he was shown the black card in a recent SF challenge against Cavan.
Pat Doherty says he's heard more queries about the new advantage rule than the black card.
In recent months, referee administrators have travelled around the country to educate both referees and intercounty panels on the new rules that come into force this year.
Surprisingly, match officials manager Doherty says clarification has been sought on the advantage rule more often than the black card:
"The most questions would have arisen around the advantage rather than the black cards," the Westmeath man tells The Irish Examiner. "It would be the big one, in terms of what happens in the five seconds.
"For instance, if we were to look at Cavan and Armagh last summer and the foul on Jamie Clarke. The referee should now allow advantage in that instance and then the question becomes what happens if Jamie Clarke kicks the ball wide or if it hits the goalkeeper or the crossbar or whatever
"The simple answer is you come back and give him the free kick. He hasn't been able to take advantage of the advantage within the five seconds so it comes back.
"We've had those questions regularly. What happens if a player who is given an advantage kicks the ball over the sideline during the five seconds? Well, quite simply he's lost his advantage so he gets his advantage back with the free kick."
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