Only a point separated Lansdowne and St. Mary's College in the end, as a tighly-contested Division 1A opener went right down to the wire.
St. Mary's trailed twice during the first half, but tries from Richie Bergin and Aaron O'Sullivan, adding to an early Ruairi Shields score, steered them to a 19-18 victory.
New winger Mark McGlynn marked his league debut for Lansdowne with a try double, although James Tarrant missed a difficult late conversion. The visitors held on in a tense finale.
Energia All-Ireland League Men's Divisions: Round 1 Results Round-Up
Energia All-Ireland League Men's Divisions: Round 1 Review
St. Mary's College responded to an early Michael Moloney penalty with a well-worked try finished off by full-back Ruairi Shields
There was no stopping Ruairi Shields from crossing in the eighth minute, following an initial break by the impressive Ronan Watters
Lineout action from the Dublin derby on Division 1A's opening day, which was a repeat of the recent Leinster Senior Cup final
Lansdowne's new centre, former Ulster Academy back Wilhelm de Klerk, battles for possession with Myles Carey of St. Mary's College
Number 8 Dan Goggin, who was one of St. Mary's leading performers, is tackled by Lansdowne's Wilhelm de Klerk and John Forde
Former USA Under-20 international Braemar Murray reaches for a lineout ball, ahead of Lansdowne's South African lock Juan Beukes
Pictured rising highest at the lineout is John Forde, who joined Lansdowne from top-flight rivals Cork Constitution in the summer
A view of a lineout maul in progress as Lansdowne play to their strengths against the defending Division 1A champions
There was vocal home support as former Leinster and Ireland back rower Rhys Ruddock took charge of Lansdowne for the first time in the Energia All-Ireland League
Mick O'Gara, who kicked two conversions for St. Mary's, is pictured in discussion with his centre partner Myles Carey
Cathal Eddy featured at full-back for Lansdowne as they sought to follow up on their recent Leinster Senior Cup final victory over St. Mary's
Mark McGlynn, a new arrival from Sligo, bagged a brace of tries for Lansdowne, but his late effort went unconverted to leave St. Mary's still in the lead
Myles Carey, the player-of-the-match in last season's Division 1A final, celebrates at the final whistle as St. Mary's held on to win a closely-fought game
Bobby Sheehan, Lansdowne's new captain, was disappointed to miss out on a late win as St. Mary's took the spoils by a single point
Ronan Watters and St. Mary's captain Conor Dean used their experience to help Mark McHugh's men come out on top by the minimum margin
