ONCE St Mary's College got their noses in front in this Leinster Senior Cup preliminary round meeting, it seemed that junior club Railway Union would not get a sniff at Park Avenue last night. This was not entirely true, as Railway's reaction to St Mary's taking a 12-10 lead, in the 21st minute from centre Kelvin McNamee, was to storm back with the considerable assistance of out-half Derek Darcy's precision kicking. Two .penalties in the 22nd and 26th minutes were enhanced by a try from flanker Gerry Kennedy, converted by Darcy.

So, despite St Mary's forcing a penalty try in first-half injury time, Railway Union led 23-19 at the break. It took the visitors until the 58th minute to snatch the lead again through another McNamee try. But even then, another Darcy penalty in the 64th minute catapulted Railway back in front but their thoughts of a shock win quickly dissipated with a three-try burst from St Mary's through wingers Gary Lavin (2) and John McWeeney.