Kearney leads Irish at Sotogrande

Royal Dublin's Niall Kearney is the leading Irishman entering the final round of the European Nations Championship at Sotogrande in southern Spain.

Niall Kearney is going well at SotograndeThe reigning South of Ireland champion carded a third round 70 to sit alone in tenth place in the individual standings on 210, eleven shots behind leader Carlos Pigem Xammar of Spain.

Scoring - Men's individual Men's Team Women's individual Women's Team

Defending champion Shane Lowry is 12 stokes behind the Spaniard on 211 after a 72 with Newlands' Cian Curley(73) tied for 25th on 218 and Rathmore's Alan Dunbar (75) in a share of 59th on 229.

Pigem Xammar leads the race for the individual title by four shots from England's Sam Hutsby (65) with Johan Lopez-Lazaro of France eight shots adrift in third place on 207.

England leads the men's team standings by 11 strokes from France on 618 with Ireland the next best of the home nations in fourth place on 639.

In the women's competition, Marieke Nivard of the Netherlands leads by a stroke from Laura González Escallon of France with Spain topping the team standings by two shots from France.