Donaghy incident worst thing I did on pitch but no regrets, says Philly McMahon

The former Dublin star grabbed the Kerry star's face in the 2015 All-Ireland decider.

Kerry's Kieran Donaghy speaks to referee David Coldrick aftre the incident with Philly McMahon. Picture: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE

Philly McMahon admits grabbing Kieran Donaghy's face in the 2015 All-Ireland final was the worst thing he did on a football field - but says he doesn't regret it.

The eight-time All-Ireland winning Dublin defender clashed with the Kerry full-forward during a battle for possession.

Current Armagh coach Donaghy claimed at the time that 'he gouged my eye', a comment that made it into the public domain as referee David Coldrick was mic'd up for an RTÉ documentary.

Now retired McMahon revisited the issue on the BBC's GAA Social podcast when asked what the worst thing he did on a football field 'in a physical sense' was.

"I suppose the big one that sticks out was the incident with Donaghy," responded McMahon. "I originally put my hand in where it shouldn't have been.

"I put my hand in to get the ball, his face was there and I grabbed his face. But I also had that thought in my head, and maybe it's the wrong approach or intention, that 'I'll do anything'. Like, 'I'll do anything to get the better of you.' That's where my head was at."

McMahon said it wasn't pre-empted and revealed his 'huge respect' for Donaghy for dropping the issue after the game.

The two-time All-Star said he didn't necessarily regret the incident though.

McMahon said: "Well, what do you regret it for? I didn't hurt the fella, we won the All-Ireland and I done my job that day. Once he wasn't hurt...if I hurt a fella I would definitely have regrets but I'd have no problem saying hello to that man in the street and shaking his hand and talking GAA war stories with him."

McMahon said he was 'not too happy about' a separate incident from that same 2015 season when Mayo's Aidan O'Shea claimed he'd been headbutted by the Dubliner.

"There was a player that blamed me for loafing him in a game, where he actually pulled me," said McMahon, clarifying that it was O'Shea he was referring to.

"If you're going to give it, you've got to take it and that probably, in terms of that incident with Aidan O'Shea, is the annoying part. It's not actually the incident that happened, it was what happened after it that will probably be something that I'm not happy with. But it doesn't pay free rent in my head."

Meanwhile, McMahon highlighted former colleague Stephen Cluxton as the most important figure on their six-in-a-row winning team. And he revealed a surprisingly softer side to the notoriously media shy 'keeper who recently returned to the county setup.

"Something that people might or mightn't know, he loves animals," said McMahon. "He was late for training one day. And you've heard the stories that he's always there early, probably an hour or two before training. The lads were looking around going, 'Where's Stephen Cluxton? He should be here kicking balls over the bar.'

"He actually was walking down the pathway to the changing room and there was an injured hedgehog. He brought the hedgehog to the vet and came to training after it.

"He says, 'Ah, there was a hedgehog on the floor, I brought it to the vet'. He just loved animals. He's that type of person. You just look at him and go, 'There's a madness in you that I love'."