Dillon assesses football changes after university victory

Barry Dillon is looking forward to examining the data from Gaelic football’s experimental rules after his Ulster University side reached the Electric Ireland Higher Education senior league semi-finals. Division 1 is testing a package of changes devised by the football Expert Advisory Group, with three games remaining. One apparent trend is an increase in kicking and kick-passing under a limit of three consecutive hand-passes, although exact figures have not yet been released. Hand-passing has remained important in situations such as playing out of a crowded defence or breaking through a defensive screen. But Ulster University used accurate kick-passes over the University of Galway defence in Wednesday evening’s quarter-final, especially in the first half. Senan Carr finished a fine goal after a series of kick-passes as Ulster won 3-18 to 1-17. They join DCU Dóchas Éireann, Maynooth University and UCD in the semi-finals, which will be played between 16 and 19 November. “I think they're collecting data on all the rules, which is a good thing to do,” said Dillon, who guided Ulster University to Sigerson Cup success in 2024.