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2nd March 2018
04:46pm GMT

"I was doing my leaving cert at the time and my football was struggling because of it but it was hard to take, growing up wanting to play and being told that you wouldn't be playing in Croke Park as a minor, which seems to be the natural stepping stone to becoming a senior footballer, so that was a tough pill to swallow and I remember being very down about it at the time. "But it was something like an innate stubbornness in me that drove me on to say 'listen, this isn't the end for me.' Alright, it's not working out now but I still had to pursue it."Of course, that wasn't the end for him. Far from it. Fenton was overlooked for two years of county minors and was almost ignored for a third year of under-21s as well before his Raheny club mate Paddy O'Higgins convinced Farrell to take another look at him. https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_GAA/status/770012035719557120 After Farrell watched Fenton star in a league game, the player was suddenly thrown straight into the U21 team and hasn't looked back since. Much like Bernard Brogan, Fenton remains a shining example of how you can make it even if you don't star at underage level. At 25, he is already a hugely influential member of Jim Gavin's side but has plenty of years left in senior football. At one stage, the prognosis on Fenton's football career was decidedly bleak. However, thanks to an undimmed enthusiasm for the sport, an undying commitment to improve his skills and one of his club mates looking out for him, Fenton has become one of the finest footballers of his generation. It's just as well he didn't pack it in after having that chat with Farrell. Dublin would be a much lesser side for it, that's for sure.
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