I'm adding my $0.02, in case the OP wants (as indicated by the OP's code) to print only the first occurrance of the match. 
perl -ne "push @a,$_;m/foo/ and exit 1;shift @a if $#a>3;END{$?==1 and
+ print @a }" myfile.txt

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Update: as japhy points out below, this is Win32 syntax. Use single-quotes for *nix.

     "For every complex problem, there is a simple answer ... and it is wrong." --H.L. Mencken

In reply to Re: upto match please, my one-lina!! by NetWallah
in thread upto match please, my one-lina!! by Firefly258

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