Brian Fenton says he was wrong to lose his cool in the Allianz Football League final against Derry but has hit out at the ‘dangerous’ challenge which caused him to see red.
The decorated Dublin midfielder missed last weekend’s Leinster SFC quarter-final win over Meath due to the straight red card he picked up in the Division One final loss.
Fenton was dismissed by referee Conor Lane for a frustrated shove to the neck area of Derry's Eunan Mulholland who collapsed to the ground.
Two-time Footballer of the Year Fenton said he was disappointed to leave a blot on his previously unblemished disciplinary record and acknowledged he shouldn't have reacted.
But he pointed to 'a bit of playacting' that followed the shove and claimed he was initially hit with a 'closed fist' after laying off a ball, a challenge that 'peed me off a little bit' and prompted the flashpoint.
“It was also the frustration of probably it looked like we were about to lose the game,” said Fenton at a promotion for Dublin GAA sponsors Staycity Aparthotels.
"All those emotions. And obviously you're 100 minutes in or whatever, so there was fatigue and everything involved. But as quick as the game flows, you can see these tackles coming, as they come, if you know what I mean.
"You could definitely see it coming. Teams at that stage will foul and try to slow the game down or concede a free to get set then defensively, so there was a bit of all of that.
"You could see the closed fist coming in. It's not something that I would ever leave in there. It's not something that I like in the game, to be totally honest with you. So it definitely peed me off a little bit.
"You can often protect yourself because you're probably carrying the ball in your core position, so often you can protect yourself, but you see it in hurling, for instance, that clip across the elbow that they don't like, kind of red card offences.
“And it’s something I would be of the opinion that goes missed a lot of the time by referees.
“You can get away with it, if you know what I mean, and it can be a very hurtful, dangerous, kind of nasty little thing to do. So that’s, I suppose, where the frustration came out of.”
Fenton noted that when it comes to ”Mickey Harte teams I have always been closely marked” and said it is something he will have to “get used to for the summer, that close attention and off the ball stuff”.
On Derry generally, Fenton said they are genuine All-Ireland contenders.
“They were very good last year - they’re deadly now though,” he said.
“You could tell from the league final that they have almost every box ticked now in terms of their physicality, their fitness, their key players and players coming off the bench.
“It gets you going for the summer and the excitement that there could be.”