GAA: The question on everyone's lips in O'Moore Park yesterday was who would be the first man to be banished to this new sin-bin lark. Over 2,500 souls braved the sub-zero temperatures in Portlaoise as the Laois and Offaly footballers acted as guinea pigs for the latest novelty to arrive in Gaelic football.

Would this early-season experimentation survive to see championship football in later years or would it be dumped on the scrapheap like many, especially in Ulster, would prefer?

For now the jury is still out, but this debate will run throughout this year's provincial cups and National League campaigns.

All eyes were fixed on Dublin referee Shane Farrell and on 24 minutes he duly sent Pádraig Clancy to the bin for leading with the foot in a tackle on Pascal Kellaghan. It didn't seem malicious, but Farrell was well within his rights having already ticked the Laois midfielder for an earlier late shoulder on Alan Mulhall.

Nevertheless, the decision didn't earn him the crowd's affection and with every subsequent Offaly tackle the cat-calls rose for one of the visitors to follow suit. They only had to wait four minutes as full back Ger Rafferty was shown yellow for a full frontal hit on the lively Chris Bergin.

Six more cards were flashed before the finish, Pascal Kellaghan and Noel Garvan erred on two occasions and were sent off, leaving many traditionalists around the country in foul form this morning.

Being one of the committee members who recommended the changes, Laois manager Mick O'Dwyer obviously wasn't too critical in the aftermath, although even he admitted to plenty of teething problems.

"Maybe the yellow card system could be looked at alright," he said. "Maybe if there were two ticks for a player before you gave him a yellow card. Maybe that would be even better. Some of the things they were sent off for there today, you would just wonder - some could have just been let go, but I suppose it will take referees a bit of time to get into it. Five minutes might be better, instead of the 10.

"That was the first time they played under that rule you know, fellas will be a bit more careful maybe now in future. Late tackles will have to be avoided, which will be better for the game as you will have more fluent football in the game and that won't be any harm."

His opposite number, new Offaly manager Kevin Kilmurray, wasn't as diplomatic as the Kerry great, but he opted to steer clear of the limelight, instead dodging the dictaphones with the line: "You don't want me to comment on that out there do yis?"

Kilmurray's angry reaction from the line to the sin-binning of the excellent Karol Slattery was statement enough. It must be remembered, Kilmurray is from a school of thought that embraces the more physical arts of football.

And the other new rules? The pick-up certainly brought greater continuity and as surfaces improve so will the difficulty for defenders in stopping the quicker forwards spinning clear when a low ball is fired in.

Also, both goalkeepers, Fergal Byron and Colin McNamara, made full use of the new kicking tee with greater yardage evident from the kick-outs.

The most challenging experiment, though, appears to be the greater responsibility afforded to the linesmen. On witnessing a yellow or red card offence off the ball they are now obliged to inform the referee. Laois centre forward Chris Conway fell foul to the extra pair of eyes in first-half injury-time, as did Slattery early in the second half.

The departure of the Offaly wing back freed up space for Ross Munnelly and Bergin, who kicked three thrilling points in succession to see Laois overturn a two-point half-time deficit and eventually ensure a 2-11 to 2-9 victory.

With all their Portlaoise players absent and Joe Higgins and Beano McDonald injured, the win was a significant benefit to Laois but the main focus was on the potential disciplinary revolution that the GAA is about to undergo.