St Mary's College proved too strong for last year's beaten finalists at Anglesea Road yesterday.

Costly knock-ons in each half took its toll on Newbridge, who struggled to contain a very industrious St Mary's three-quarter division.

By half-time St Mary's were two converted tries ahead with James Clarke, their powerfully built wing, channelling his efforts quite vigorously down the flanks.

The game was just 11 minutes old when Mary's registered their first score when Ronan Doherty cut in from the left to score under the posts and Michael Ryan converted.

The Newbridge side suffered a further setback when Clarke sold a brilliant dummy to extend St Mary's lead with Ryan handed another easy conversion.

But Newbridge, if anything, showed plenty of battling qualities and were rewarded for their effort when Paul Coonan went over for a try in the second half.

St Mary's College: G Roche; J Clarke, M Ryan, P Griffin, R Doherty; J Connolly, S Gibney; B Higgins, O McCormack, D McNally, D Good, F O'Sullivan, R Timmons, G O'Donovan, C Lennon. Replacements: S Grissing for Roche, N Conway for Good, P Spillane for Timmons.

Newbridge College: B Flanagan; P Coonan, S Farrell, T Murphy, R Walsh; E Burns, B O'Donnell; D Kearin, P Bough, R Price, S Byrne, G Rowan, W O'Brien, J Holmes, J Heaslip.

Referee: P Fagan (ARLB).