Henry Shefflin admits he didn't see 'eye-to-eye' with Davy Fitzgerald on the field of play.

Writing in today's Irish Independent, Shefflin recalled: "With so much talk about sledging in Gaelic football this week, a memory came to mind from the 2002 All-Ireland hurling final that made me chuckle.

"As Kilkenny got on top of Clare, DJ Carey scored this sublime point from under the Hogan Stand without even taking the ball to hand. There'd been a few verbals between Davy Fitzgerald and me throughout the game and now, as DJ's effort sailed serenely over, I went running towards the Clare goal, roaring in "Class is permanent boy, class is permanent . . ."

"Davy, naturally, didn't spare me, inviting me further inside his domain. I went within maybe eight yards, then thought the better of it and wheeled away.

"Back then, we had a kind of a love-hate relationship, you could say. We certainly didn't see eye to eye on the field, but then Davy probably didn't get on with too many opponents in the heat of battle. Off the field, I like to think we had the height of respect for one another."

Sledging is not a problem in the small ball code according to the 10-time All-Ireland winner ...

"You know, reading about the sledging between the Donegal and Tyrone players, I can honestly say I've never come across anything like that in hurling. There seems to be a very malicious strain of abuse creeping into some football rivalries, but all you'd ever get in hurling is a bit of what I would call macho talk.

"It's like Brendan Lynskey telling a young Michael Duignan that the minor match was over when he was just starting out. Or maybe a full-back promising to wear a hurl across your knuckles, that sort of thing. Nothing that would stay with you.

"It strikes me that there is less time for any real bad stuff to creep into hurling - the ball is just moving so fast, there's not the same opportunity to get into a lad's head."

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