By John Harrington

Dublin's Brian Fenton has won four All-Ireland medals in his four years as an inter-county footballer while never losing a Championship match.

Let that ridiculous achievement sink in for a minute.

Perhaps what’s most impressive about Fenton in the way he goes about his business both on and off the pitch is that he seems utterly unaffected by his achievements.

You couldn’t meet a more down to earth bloke when you meet him in his civvies, and when he pulls on that sky-blue jersey his desire to win is as relentless now as it was in his debut season.

Many of his older team-mates reference the pain of their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Donegal in 2014 as bottomless source of motivation, but Fenton has no such chip on his shoulder.

So where does his inner drive come from?

Why is he as determined to succeed and improve now as he was in his debut season of 2015 despite winning more in four years than most players will in their entire careers?

“Well it’s funny, it’s amazing. Personally it’s probably just an inner sort of desire to win,” said Fenton.

“That constant improvement and constant standards that you set yourself.

“2014 was definitely, you know…I’ve been part of the dressing room since then. I was called in at the end of 2014 for a charity game up the north for Anto Finnegan.

“That was the end of 2014 and certainly the hurt from that is well and truly there. We talked about it in the past few weeks, how that can be a motivational factor, not being there and having that feeling again.

“You look at Tyrone staying out on the pitch (after the match) and taking it all in and they’re standing there saying, ‘We don’t want to be in that position again’ so, for them, it’s about what sort of motivation can you use to get you over the line next year.

But for me, I don’t know, I sort of buzz off that hurt and I feel it from the lads that were there.

“I don’t know, it’s just sort of maybe a bit of adversity in your life or doing yourself proud and doing your club justice, that’s what drives me.”

Fenton is one of those rare players who looked right at home as soon as he was thrown in at the deep end for the very first time.

He scored a goal two minutes into his senior debut for Dublin in the 2015 Allianz Football League Round 7 clash with Monaghan, and his career since has been a steadily upward curve.

“Yeah, luckily…I think I’ve only got one or two goals since, one in the championship this year, my first championship goal – delighted!

“I was playing wing forward and I still slag Deano about it; Deano saw me running off the shoulder up in Monaghan…‘Who’s this fella? I’m not passing to him!’

“But gave me the ball anyway, luckily, and it was against Rory Beggan who’s one of the top ‘keepers. Just a freak goal – close the eyes and give it a lash and dispatched it.

“But it only happened in the first couple of minutes and that really settles you in and you’re saying, ‘Right, Jesus, I'm up to this standard’ and thankfully I've driven on since then.”

Fenton is now arguably the most influential player on this Dublin team and it was telling that Tyrone manager Mickey Harte tried to curb his influence on the All-Ireland Final as much as possible by detailing Conor Meyler as a man-marker to shadow him wherever he went.

As a ploy it worked pretty well for the first quarter of the match, but thereafter Fenton took control of the middle third of the field and by the end was a contender for Man of the Match.

“Look, it’s a huge vote of confidence to have someone like Mickey Harte designate a player to go on you,” said Fenton.

“You have to take it as a sort of a confidence thing rather than anything negative.

“But it’s tough, certainly, when a man is just there put in front of you to talk the talk and say different things to you, grab your neck and this, that and the other. But look, you have to take that as it comes.

“And luckily, as I said, I was quiet in the first half and thankfully loosened up in the second half a bit. The game is so long, you know you’ll get a bit of joy or a bit of space somewhere.

“It might not be 30 possessions or 35 possessions that you’re going after; you might get some bit of a break and you might set someone up for something else.

“I knew eventually, you get a bit of space somewhere; luckily the first score came and the second score came and we drove on from there.”

Fenton has played a huge role in Dublin’s four All-Irelands in a row, but if you consider him lucky to have arrived on the scene when he did, then he’s not going to argue with you.

He’s keenly aware of how fortunate he is to be part of such an successful era for Dublin football, and he’s determined to do all he can to ensure it doesn’t end anytime soon.

“Big time. The likes of Bernard (Brogan) now and him sharing that with his two kids yesterday. And Dermo (Dermot Connolly) going away.

“Jim’s always reminding us, and you might think it’s spoof, but we’re so lucky to be in this position and we’re going in now to the Children’s Hospital to see people who are certainly less fortunate than us.

“Me and my Dad are always talking about how lucky I am to be fit and healthy and young and to play with Dublin, and play in Croke Park. It's incredible.

“We’re all very aware of how lucky we are and how special it is...the likes of Bernard...for myself to be injury-free. To do those lads justice; to see Cian (O'Sullivan) going off yesterday having worked so hard to get back for the final.

“We know we have to pick up the pace and do those lads justice. Jack (McCaffrey) talked about how last year, when he got injured, how thankful he was to the rest of us to see the game through and to get him the medal.

“That’s very lovely to hear. Look, we’re well aware of it and hopefully next year we stay injury-free and healthy – and we’ll be back to do it all again.”