Delicate play following penalties (8)
I believe the answer is:
finespun
'delicate' is the definition.
('finespun' can be a synonym of 'delicate')
'play following penalties' is the wordplay.
'play' becomes 'pun' (pun is a kind of play**).
'following' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'penalties' becomes 'fines' (fine is a kind of penalty).
'pun' after 'fines' is 'FINESPUN'.
(Other definitions for finespun that I've seen before include "Over-subtle" , "Excessively subtle" , "Highly subtle" .)