Next year's All-Ireland under-21 hurling final will be played as a curtain-raiser to the senior All-Ireland camogie final in Croke Park on September 10th.

Miriam O'Callaghan, the president of Cumann Camógaiochta na nGael, has welcomed the announcement which followed discussions with the GAA. She said: "Gaelic games followers will now be better served with this natural fit of All-Ireland finals."

The Camogie association is also in discussion with the GAA regarding the staging of their junior All-Ireland final.

Meanwhile, a record number of third-level colleges will be involved in the draws for the hurling and football championships in Croke Park today. These include the Fitzgibbon and Ryan Cups in hurling and Sigerson and Trench Cups in football. The third-tier competition in hurling is the Feargal Maher and Corn na Mac Linn in football.

In total, 53 colleges will be involved in the football competitions and 36 in hurling. UCC host the Fitzgibbon this year on the weekend of March 3rd-4th, while the Sigerson takes place in DCU on February 24th-25th.

Pádraig O'Gorman of Adamstown has been ratified as a Wexford football selector by the county management committee. He joins new manager Paul Bealin and physical trainer Paul Carty on the backroom team, with another selector to be named in the near future.

John Fahey, the secretary of the Galway Hurling Board, says that clubs from the weaker hurling counties in Connacht are gaining nothing from suffering hammerings each year from the Galway champions.

Fahey said that the other counties in Connacht might gain more from concentrating on the intermediate and junior Connacht championships than meeting the Galway winners.

WeekendFixtures

SATURDAY

O'Byrne Cup (SF): Laois v Athlone IT, Portarlington, 2.0.

Ulster Club League final: Ballinderry v Errigal Ciarán, Dungannon, 2.0, P Hughes (Armagh).

SUNDAY

Hurling challenge: Underdogs v Kilkenny, Nowlan Park, 1.45 (Live from 1.30 on TG4).