There was fire in the belly of the Welsh dragon on the second day of the Smurfit Kappa European Open as World Cup winners for the principality, Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge, shared the spoils for most of the day before the latter captured the outright lead with a late birdie on the final hole.

There is also the prospect of home crowds having plenty to cheer about over the weekend after Darren Clarke muscled his way into contention earlier in the day, while fellow Irishman Stephen Browne shot the low round of the day over the Smurfit Course.

Dredge holds the overnight lead on nine-under after the 33-year-old made a closing birdie on the ninth, his 18th, before signing for a bogey free round of 70. Dodd went one better on the day as he carded a 69 to hold second on his own on eight-under. The pair won the WGC-World Cup over the Vilamoura Victoria Course in the Algarve last November.

"Stephen [Dodd] saw me just before I went out and said 'make sure you have a good day and we'll have a good game together tomorrow'," said Dredge. "We both had a good season last year and to win the World Cup was a massive bonus for us, and for Wales."

"I'm looking to finish well but it's only the halfway stage of the tournament so all I can do is try and give myself a chance of winning," added the Welshman.

Clarke showed great form in the early part of the day to shoot 68 and finds himself just two off the lead on seven-under. However, the Ulsterman is still just taking it one tournament at a time, given that priority is obviously with his wife Heather, who is battling cancer.

"Things are tough for me at the minute," said Clarke "But whenever I  come out here, I still want to play as well as I can.
 
"I have been making changes with Ewen (Murray) and hit a lot of good shots over the last couple of days. There were a couple of poor ones today in my back nine but I was still able to hang in there, grind it out and seven under is a decent score."
 
As for the Ryder Cup, if it's meant to be it will happen. "It's not at the forefront of my thoughts at all," Clarke explained. "Yes, I would like to qualify, yes I would like to play my way onto the team with some good performances over the next couple of months, but I don't know if I'm even going to be playing in a couple of months time."

As for Browne, he got into the event on the back of an invite from Bord Failte / Team Ireland and his 67 was the low round of the day. And at four-under, the Dubliner's expectations for the week have certainly been raised.

"I'll shoot for the stars and hopefully hit the moon," quipped the Dubliner after his round. "It's my first European Open cut made (on his third attempt) and I'm delighted to simply be here because I didn't think I was going to get in. Initially I didn't have an invite, David Higgins had it then he got in on his category, so that's how I got in."

"To be honest I had planned to go to America this week to see Jimmy Ballard because I haven't seen him since April. But I was playing well so I was more than happy to get the chance to play here."

"Normally in my category you tend to play with the same guys so you see the same faces all year. I got a nice draw and played with two great players (Soren Hansen and David Lynn) and that kind of spurred me on," added Browne. "Generally the category I'm in, we often struggle at tournaments and you tend to think more about just making the cut.

"Walking up  the 11th I said to my caddy Shaun, and I'm not making this up now, I said: 'I'm not even thinking about the cut today, instead I'm thinking about getting into the tournament'."

So, with raised expectations Browne hopes to go on and challenge over the weekend. "I haven't had that many chances to win tournaments. The two good chances I've had on the Challenge Tour, I've won (Norwegian Challenge 2004, Kazakhstan Open 2005). I tend to do well when I'm under pressure and I enjoy it. Hopefully I'll bring a bit of pressure on myself over the weekend."

Damien McGrane consolidated his opening 69 with a level par 72 and is well-placed, a shot back from Browne on three-under.

Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell had what they described as "frustrating" rounds and although the pair went considerably backwards, the fact they both finished one-over to make the cut by a single shot gives them a chance to make amends over the weekend. Harrington shot 75, one better than McDowell.

Having missed a putt on his final green, Paul McGinley was sure he would miss the cut. However, as conditions got worse in the afternoon the cut rose to two-over which meant the Dubliner's 71 for a two-over 146 aggregate got him in, right on the limit.

And perhaps the gutsiest performance of the day came from the Irish PGA's leading light, Simon Thornton. The Yorkshire golfer, who is attached to Royal County Down and resides in Newcastle, battled for a 70 to make the cut on two-over.

Thornton had been four-under for his round at one point but a "sloppy finish" with a couple of bogeys on the closing stretch stopped him in his tracks. "The plan for the weekend is to simply enjoy it now," said Thornton. "Whatever happens, happens. I can start to feel as though I deserve to be here."

David Higgins (72) also made it to the weekend on two over but Michael Hoey (75) and Peter Lawrie (75) missed out as they finished four and five-over respectively.

It was yet another agonising story for Philip Walton who, like Browne, was playing this week on a sponsor's invite. The 1995 Ryder Cup hero looked set to make the cut but a bogey, bogey, quadruple bogey nine finish blew his chances completely out of the water. He eventually signed for a 78, eight over for the tournament.

Of the 15 Irishmen who started out, eight made it into the weekend.