In what turned out to be his final campaign in a decorated career with Dublin, Brian Fenton missed the opening Leinster assignment against Meath in 2024 due to suspension.
The ban arose from the first red card of his inter-county career in the Division 1 league final defeat to Derry after an incident late in the game with Eunan Mulholland.
Three points down in injury-time in extra-time, the two-time Footballer of the Year shipped off possession and was caught in the rib area by the Derry substitute and responded with a push/shove to the neck and upper torso, sending Mulholland to the deck.
It was an incident that came to mind after watching David Clifford's challenge with Caolan McGonagle last Sunday in a tempestuous encounter between budding rivals Kerry and Donegal at Fitzgerald Stadium.
There will be no retrospective action brought against the decorated forward for leading with the elbow into the defender's head during the first half.
Drawing on his own dismissal two years ago, Fenton feels it is a lucky escape for the Fossa man.
"David gets extra-special attention every day he goes out," he told the RTÉ GAA podcast. "That’s probably since he was 12 years old, but he is well able to walk the line as much as anyone. From playing against him, David looks after himself very, very well.
"I’ve been there. I’ve been sent off in a league final a couple of years ago for one of these high pushes. You know what you are doing, it’s not a push 'get away from me, I’m playing on’…you want to leave one in and not with an obvious strike. You know what you are doing.
"With Caolan McGonagle, there seemed to be a delayed reaction, a soccer-style head throwback.
"He’s (Clifford) lucky. If it was up in Ballybofey, the opposition crowd would have reacted more, but because it was Killarney and a lack of reaction, I think David Coldrick’s eye isn’t drawn to it as much
"I think David gets away with one there. It’s a raised elbow. We don’t want to be refereeing all these situations, but it wasn’t dealt with on the pitch
"It was high and dangerous – like what I was sent off for at the time even if it wasn’t a strike – and David probably deserved retrospective action."
Donegal manager Jim McGuinness has also escaped any further sanction after a push on Kerry’s Diarmuid O’Connor as tensions spilled over in Killarney.
While contact was minimal, "any" physical interference by a team official with an opposing team official or player carriers a punishment of a 12-week ban, something Dublin manager Ger Brennan found out to his cost during the league.
While Fenton is glad McGuinness isn’t going to miss a huge chunk of the most important part of the season, he believes the CCCC’s conclusion that all incidents arising from the match were dealt with on the day has serious flaws.
"It needs retrospective action, in my opinion," the seven-time All-Ireland winner said. "For the CCCC to hide behind the referee’s report is the wrong thing to do. If you are pushing rules and penalties on people, you have to be consistent on that, whether it is in the referee’s report or not.
"The fact that (a ban) hasn’t come through has caused suspicion, frustration and disappointment from a Dublin perspective.
"Although they want to clean up the sidelines and people entering the pitch, no-one bats an eyelid to the McGuinness push (prior to the Brennan ban) based on the punch, shemozzle and red card.
"If Jim McGuinness got a 12-week ban, that would be overkill and a disaster for the rest of the championship. I think if they are enforcing a rule to say no-one enters the pitch or it is a one-match ban. That’s it."
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