As former Scottish champion Gordon Law jumped out of the pack with an eight-under 65 to trail leader Simon Edwards by a stroke at the halfway stage, Headfort professional Brendan McGovern was lurking just four shots off the pace in the Glenmuir Club Professional Championship at County Louth.

McGovern, who used his driver sparingly in a round of 70, said: "I missed three fairways, which meant three bogeys. The course is tricky, but I'm very familiar with it, and really looking forward to the next two days."

John Dignam (Slade Valley) and former British Boys' champion Leslie Walker from Dundalk are a stroke farther back on 140.

Meanwhile, Deirdre Smith motivated by her inclusion in the Irish side for the European Team Championships in Spain next month, stormed impressively into the knock-out stages of the Women's British Open Amateur championship at Ladybank, Scotland yesterday.

Smith kept her head superbly to add a solid level par 72 to a first round 70 for a qualifying aggregate of 142.

Dundalk's Yvonne Cassidy, whose preparations were severely hampered after she suffered a back injury in a car accident at the beginning of the year, was delighted last night to have qualified with six strokes to spare after a round of 72 to add to her opening 73.

Both Elaine Dowdall from Wexford and Warrenpoint's Alison Coffey also qualified quite comfortably for the matchplay phase with rounds of 70 and 71 respectively. Cork's Claire Coughlan became the fifth Irish qualifier when she survived a late night play-off having finished on the 151 mark.

Hazel Kavanagh, Martina Gillen and Sinead Keane, who have all been chosen for the European Championships were bitterly disappointed to miss out.