Brian Fenton regrets reacting to 'hurtful, dangerous, kind of nasty' challenge against Derry

Brian Fenton of Dublin leaves the pitch after he was sent off by referee Conor Lane. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Brian Fenton has acknowledged that he left Cork whistler Conor Lane with no option but to send him off in the National League final.

But the decorated Dublin midfielder has insisted he didn't attempt to punch Derry's Eunan Mulholland and was merely trying to make his 'frustrations known' following a 'hurtful' and 'dangerous' challenge.

Fenton was shown a straight red card for reacting with a forceful shove to the neck area of Mulholland, who'd moments earlier caught him in the midriff with a flying arm, during Dublin's Division 1 final defeat.

The two-time Footballer of the Year contested the sanction but without success and was suspended for last weekend's Leinster SFC quarter-final win over Meath.

Speaking at a promotion for Dublin GAA sponsors Staycity Aparthotels, Fenton said part of his reason for appealing was to protect his previously unblemished disciplinary record.

"That (reacting) was personally the most disappointing thing," said Fenton of his loss of composure. "And look, again, in my defence, I didn't run to swing at anyone, I just ran to push and let my frustrations known. It was just the height difference and the weight difference probably, and the bit of reaction then which added to the commotion in the stadium I think. You give the linesman and the referee no option there in that scenario, so that's another big learning for me."

Fenton had never been sent off before, for his club Raheny or Dublin, and assured that it won't happen again.

Brian Fenton at a Staycity Aparthotels and Dublin GAA media event. Picture: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

"I was proud to be a player that had never been sent off," he said. "I was more appealing on that side of things. I know for sure it shouldn't and won't happen again. I can say that now and I'll be in the thick of it in an All-Ireland semi-final or something!

"But I know that I'm not a player who plays that way so I'm not too worried about further repercussions. It was more the incident itself, having that against your name and missing a Leinster championship game."

Fenton noted that he has always been 'closely marked' by teams managed by Mickey Harte.

He had just changed direction during the league final and attempted to burst away from Mulholland when he was caught by a strong right arm across him by the All-Ireland club medallist with Glen. Fenton conceded that frustration got the better of him.

"And also the frustration of probably it looked like we were about to lose the game," he said. "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."