Close encounter

Two second-half tries gave St Mary's, Drogheda, a Leinster Senior Cup victory over St Patrick's at Navan yesterday.

The opening 35 minutes were evenly contested with neither side going close to scoring, but St Mary's, playing in the competition for the first time, had the better of the exchanges after the change of ends.

The deadlock was broken six minutes after the restart when St Mary's scrum-half Dermot Keegan availed of some slack St Patrick's play to nip in for a touch-down. Some 12 minutes later, Drogheda's Daire Hughes put in a fine run to cross for the second try in the right corner. Although full-back Philip Tracey and forwards John Baker and Shane Hamill battled well, the Navan side just could not get on the scoresheet.

St Mary's, Drogheda: N Kerbey; R Gallagher, E Winters, P Rice, D Hughes, A Tallon, D Keegan; D Murray, I Dunne, J McGuinness, A O'Shea, K Geraghty, P Vesey, M Maher, J Devereaux. Replacement: J Dunne for Gallagher.

St Patrick's, Navan: P Tracey; T Quirke, P Walsh, R Conaty, R Reynolds, B McCormack, D Delahunt, R McLoughlin, J Baker, A McManus, A Kenney, D Hendricks, R O'Hare, A Rogers, S Hamill. Replacement: O McHugh for Delahunt.

Referee: J Walker (Leinster Branch).

Jon Preston will make his Allied Dunbar Premiership debut for Bath in tomorrow's clash against Harlequins at The Stoop.

Former New Zealand All Black Preston, a prolific goal-kicker, will wear the out-half jersey as Bath shuffle their resources with several players ruled out because of international commitments.