Rule of the Week: On the bounce

A RECENT addition to Gaelic Life is the Rule of the Week and here is this week’s example.

By Michael McMullan

WITH the clock ticking in stoppage time at the end of Cork’s win over Roscommon in Saturday’s All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-final the sides were level.

More importantly, Roscommon were in possession. Had they engineered a score, they’d be in the last eight this weekend.

When Conor Daly found himself in possession, rather than directly bounce the ball, he threw it up to himself and Brendan Cawley awarded a free to Cork which they developed into an Ian Maguire run and a winning point for Kevin O’Donovan.

Here are the definitions of both a bounce and a throw from the GAA’s Official Guide.

1. BOUNCE For a player who has caught the ball to play the ball against the ground with his hand(s) and to catch it on return to his hand(s) again.

19. THROW When the ball, held in the hand(s), is played away without a definite striking action.