Brian Fenton's Dublin career in four games

Dublin's midfield cupboard suddenly looks rather bare with the surprise news that Brian Fenton is calling it a day at 31, hot on the heels of his venerable mucker, James McCarthy.

Fenton's departure feels like even more of a landmark moment, the clearest sign that the great Dublin team of the 2010s is shuffling off the stage.

Such was Fenton's influence that some commentators are even pondering today whether the Leinster Championship (d'you remember that?) may not even be a done deal in 2025.

The Raheny midfielder was famously into his seventh season as an inter-county player before he lost a championship match of any description. When this correspondent interviewed him in late 2016, he was quick to bring up his record with Raheny and seemed anxious to reassure the public that he did actually know how it felt to lose in a game of sport.

Fenton, who didn't so much run as glide, was frequently described as the greatest midfielder of his generation and possibly all-time, and often seen as this era's version of Jack O'Shea.

Both were at the cutting edge of midfield play in their day, combining the ball-winning capabilities of the classical midfielder with the mobility and scoring touch of an auxiliary centre-forward.

There were even parallels in the general shape of their career, with both arriving as part of a second wave shortly after their predecessors had sampled All-Ireland success.

Jack McCaffrey had more blinding pace, Diarmuid Connolly was considered more lavishly skillful, Stephen Cluxton was deemed more of a mould-breaker, while James McCarthy carried more of an air of a spiritual leader.

But Fenton seemed to represent the full package, a player seemingly without weaknesses.

While his career was marked by an astonishing