CORK goalkeeper Micheál Aodh Martin has called for the return of football’s short kick-out to speed up the game.
While the Rebels stopper feels the sport’s rule changes are “more positive than negative”, he sees the requirement for kick-outs to travel beyond the 40-metre arc as a backward step.
Cork defeated Meath 2-19 to 0-21 in Division 2 on Saturday and Martin said: “There were three short kick-outs in the whole game. We had two, they had one.
“Nearly everything’s going long, there’s a lot of bodies out there and that’s one, I don’t know will they look at it again.
“Because of the other rule changes, the quick kick-out isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world if they brought that back in. You can’t go back to your keeper, which means it has to go forward.
“It’s nearly slowing the game down at the moment, but look, that’s just an opinion. Some people love the contest. I get that as well.”
Martin had worried about a lack of goals under the new rules but the numbers of one-on-one scenarios in games and training have eased those concerns.
He added: “I would have had a fear a couple of months ago that maybe goals would be gone, with the difference between a two-pointer and a three-pointer.
“But actually what we’re finding so far is that because you don’t really have an option to develop a sweeper, it’s quite a lot of goal chances in every game. There’s a lot more one-v-one battles.
“And the three up means that there’s ten to 15 seconds where lads have themselves versus their man, so lots of goal chances.
“That’s what people ultimately pay in for, to see exciting forwards run at their men and go for goal. There’s more space for forwards, more scores, which is only positive.”
Cork head to Down on Sunday but Martin hopes the opening win over the Royals at Páirc Uí Chaoimh is a sign of things to come on home turf if the Rebels are to mount a promotion push.
He added: “It’s such a tight division. You really have to have a good home record. We haven’t had a good enough home record over the last few years.”
