The Ulster Council of the GAA will decide tonight on the format for their investigation into the scenes during and after the Ulster club championship hurling final between Dunloy from Antrim and Lavey from Derry in Casement Park last Sunday week.

The council has been gravely embarrassed by the violence which took place during the match when five players were sent off and the subsequent disgraceful behaviour by a small group of Dunloy supporters, who tried to assault the referee as he made his way to the dressing-room. Dunloy supporters also booed, jeered and heckled the Lavey captain as he made an after-match speech at the presentation ceremony.

Several people from both clubs who sought to protect the referee were struck or kicked during the after-match fracas. Some players also came in for violent treatment both verbal and physical before calm was restored.

It now emerges that the Ulster Council has viewed videotape evidence of the scenes and that a number of people have been identified. In all, about six or seven players from both teams have been asked to appear before the council to account for their behaviour and the chairman and secretaries of both clubs have also been summoned to the meeting.

The report of the referee, John Anthony Gribben from Down, has been received and studied and it is clear that the Dunloy club is adamant that any of their members who can be proved to have been involved will be subjected to the full rigour of the rules.

Dunloy's main concern will be to preserve their good name as well as their Ulster championship title. Some suggestions have been made that they will be stripped of the Ulster title. This they want to avoid at all costs. They won the match, regarded by many as one of very high quality, by 3-16 to 4-10.

On the football front in the province, the All-Ireland club title holders, Crossmaglen, have advanced to the second round of the Ulster competition with an impressive win over Down champions Burren, on Sunday, on a score of 3-9 to 2-8. Crossmaglen, managed by former Armagh star Joe Kernan, also beat Burren on their run to the All-Ireland title.

Also in football, the Kerry and Cork county finals both require replays. In Kerry, the replay of the match between East Kerry and Laune Rangers has been fixed for Sunday week in Tralee, while Cork have opted for November 9th for their replay in Pairc Ui Chaoimh. The National Football League starts next weekend with the match in New York between Cavan and Kerry on Saturday, a match to mark the 50th anniversary of the All-Ireland final between the two counties which was played in the Polo Grounds in 1947.

Many survivors of that match are travelling to New York for the occasion. The highlights of the first round of the National League include that match as well as a trip for Dublin to play Sligo at Markievicz Park. Beaten All-Ireland finalists Mayo will play away to Fermanagh; Leinster champions Offaly will be at home to Monaghan, while Kildare, Cork and Down are all away, to Waterford, Tipperary and Wicklow respectively.

Meanwhile, grave concern is being expressed in many quarters about the treatment being meted out to the Sam Maguire Cup. The cup required serious repairs in the week before the All-Ireland final. Some vandals had even gone so far as the attempt to scratch their names in the bowl of the cup and on the bottom section. Since then the cup has been damaged even more severely and it is now reported to be in the care of a silversmith in Kilkenny in an attempt to prevent it from falling to pieces, such has the damage been caused. The original Sam Maguire Cup is kept in a glass case in Croke Park having been removed from circulation because of "wear and tear". However, that particular cup lasted from 1928 until a few years ago. As things stand at the moment the present cup may also have to be taken out of circulation. It is estimated to have cost some £10,000. As yet no estimate of the cost of the damage has been made, but it is expected that the Kerry county board will be held responsible for the repairs.

The present state of the trophy is expected to result in a call made previously to the effect that the winning county will be presented with the authentic trophy on the day of the match and that a replica will then be handed over with the real trophy remaining in Croke Park's museum.