preg_replace'ing only the First match - it replaces the Last :(

[Michel V]

I've got a problem with preg_replace... I'm using the last parameter to determine how many matches will be replaced, setting it to 1 so that only the first match is replaced.
It would all be fine, if only it replaced the first match. Instead, it replaces the last match.

Is there any way to tell it in which order it should replace matches?

[randem]

Show us what you're using. What's the string, the regex, the result?

[Michel V]

The complete code is there: http://tidakada.com/tagifythis.phps

I make it generate matches and replacement strings dynamically, so the preg_replace call looks like that:

$text = preg_replace($match, $replace, $text, 1); 

Here's an example of what the regexes look like:
#>([^<]{0,})([^a-zA-Z0-9]{1,})(CSS)([^a-zA-Z0-9]{1})([^>]{0,})<#

And it would be replaced by:
>$1$2<acronym title="Cascading Style Sheets">$3</acronym>$4$5<

[Michel V]

*bump*

I simplified the regex into:
#>([^<]{0,}[^a-zA-Z0-9]{0,})(CSS)([^a-zA-Z0-9]{0,}[^>]{0,})<#

To replaced it with:
>$1<acronym title="Cascading Style Sheets">$2</acronym>$3<


But it would still replace only the last match. Anyone have any ideas why it just replaces the last match, and/or how I could fix the regex so that it replaces the first match?