ST MARY'S advanced to the second round of the Leinster Schools' Junior Cup (Section B) at Donnybrook yesterday but only after surviving a torrid examination from Wesley.

In truth, Wesley did enough at least to share the spoils, but two minutes into the second half a well rehearsed St Mary's back line movement decided the issue. The Rathmines boys forced a scrum in front of the posts. Scrum-half Darragh O'Neill fed, half back partner Paul Madden, going left. He cleverly switched to centre Kieran Lewis, moving right. This confused the defence, as Lewis passed to fellow centre Shane Lonergan, who squeezed over near the corner for a finely executed try.

No matter what Wesley did, they could not break down St Mary's, for whom the line out work of Karl Daly, the strong driving of number eight, Shane Jennings, and the expert line kicking of the captain, Madden, were key assets.

For Wesley, scrum half David Popplewell (younger brother of Nick), prop Ian Wallace, number eight Mark England and flanker Rory Stephens were foremost in the resistance.