Hurling news: Athenry and Loughrea, whose bad-tempered quarter-final clash in September is being investigated by the Gardaí, have been drawn in the same group of the Galway hurling championship for 2005.

There had been hopes that the two sides would be kept apart when the four groups were drawn for this year's championship. However, only the four semi-finalists were seeded.

The September clash was a particularly heated affair which led to one Loughrea player making a complaint to Gardaí that he had been assaulted four times during the game.

The Director of Public Prosecutions is shortly expected to make a decision to see if the four players have assault charges to answer in court.

Two players - Athenry's John Feeney and Loughrea's Greg Kennedy - were sent off. Athenry won and went on to retain the Galway championship.

Another player, Athenry wing back Shane Donoghue, was subsequently banned for six months by the Galway GAC.

Meanwhile, Matt Murphy, whose ratification as Galway senior manager was turned down by hurling board delegates in November, will take charge of the county's minor side for the coming season.

Murphy, who had two spells as senior manager, guided the Galway minors to a thrilling All-Ireland replay success last September.

The National Football League game between Kerry and Tyrone on April 3rd in Killarney will be preceded by a junior International Rules game between Ireland and Australia.