Three closing birdies in a row from England's Andrew Carman  propelled him to a share of the lead at the Irish Seniors Open Championship in Ardee alongside Cork's Tom Cleary.

The Irish international had set the clubhouse lead on six-over par after a second consecutive round of 74 before Carman, who finished 3-3-2 , joined him on a 148 total.

Cleary, who has recently returned refreshed from a golfing holiday in the USA endured tough conditions as rain gave way to strong winds in the afternoon.

"It was very windy out there to be honest, very hard to keep the ball straight but I'm happy enough".

Carman,  who was six-over par for his first 11 holes today,  played his best golf coming home.

"Today I started on the back nine and missed a few putts, played pretty average golf.  I finished with three straight birdies so I was absolutely delighted with that."

A former Seniors international for England, Carman was beaten in the final of the English Amateur Championship in 1979 by Roger Chapman who went on to win two professional senior majors in 2012.

One shot back are Ian Brotherson who carded the lowest round of the day, a two-over par 73 to move into contention and also on the 149 mark are Hugh Smyth (Mourne) and England's Mark Stones. 

Defending champion Richard Partridge is just three shots off the lead heading into the final round. He added a 76 to his opening 75 to lie on 151.

The cut fell at 157 with Peter Cowley (164) and Hugh MacKeown (166) also making the final day as the top two leading players aged over 70.

Round Two Collated Scores

148 Tom Cleary (Cork) 74 74, Andrew Carman (England) 74 74 

149 Ian Brotherston (Scotland) 76 73 , Hugh Smyth (Mourne) 72 77 (leading 65+ category) , Mark Stones (England) 72 77 

150 John Mitchell (Tramore) 75 75, Stephen East (England) 75 75, Mike Ready (England) 75 75, Alan Egan (Royal Curragh) 74 76, Muir Townsley (Scotland) 73 77, Andrew Atkinson (England) 73 77 

151 Alan Mew (England) 76 75, Richard Partridge (England) 75 76 

152 Michael Quirke (Doneraile) 77 75, Andrew Williams (Wales) 74 78 , Nigel Evans (Wales) 74 78, John Ambridge (England) 74 78, Ian Crowther (England) 72 80 

153 Barry O'Leary (Greystones) 78 75, Ian Fraser (Scotland) 77 76, Arthur Pierse (Tipperary Golf Club) 77 76, Colin Jones (Wales) 74 79 , Ian Attoe (England) 73 80, Gerard O'Sullivan (Tralee) 73 80, Adrian Morrow (Portmarnock) 72 81 

154 Tom Tyrrell (The Heath) 80 74, Denis Deasy (Waterford) 79 75, Peter Rogers (Dundalk) 76 78, Ross Galgut (England) 75 79 

155 Keith Morris (England) 76 79, Ronnie Berry (Rossmore) 76 79, Edward Rogers (Dundalk) 75 80 

156 David Brabazon (Balbriggan) 81 75, Joseph McWilliams (Naas) 80 76, Con Boyce (Rosapenna) 80 76, Alan Lilley (Ballyclare) 77 79, Mervyn Eager (Lucan) 76 80 

157 Brian Bingham (Scotland) 81 76, Robert Fox (England) 80 77, Bert Burke (Moate) 80 77, George Mellerick (Fota Island) 79 78, Morgan Pierse (Grange) 79 78, Douglas Cameron (England) 78 79, Billy Donlon (Birr) 78 79, Neale Pitches (New Zealand) 77 80 

164 Peter Cowley (Cork) 86, 78 (leading over 70's)

166 Hugh MacKeown (Portmarnock) 83 83 (second place in over 70's)

Non-qualifiers

158 Tim Whittaker (England) 83 75, Val Smyth (Co. Louth) 82 76, Richard Elmes (England) 80 78 , Oscar O'Herlihy (England) 79 79, George Wilson (England) 78 80, Jimmy Mccarthy (Nuremore Golf Club) 78 80, David Cromie (Denham Golf Club) 78 80, Tony Hayes (Co. Louth) 77 81 

159 Liam Doran (Ardee) 80 79, Stuart Robson (England) 80 79, Richard Brooker (Skerries) 79 80, Martin Higgins (Claremorris) 78 81, David Conway (England) 78 81 

160 Michael Darcy (Oughterard) 81 79, Mark Windebank (Portstewart) 78 82, Michael Coote (Tralee) 77 83 

161 Eamon Breen (Ardee) 87 74, Gary Catt (England) 84 77, Ashley Brewer (England) 82 79, Dave Roberts (Rathcore) 82 79, William Houng Lee (New Zealand) 81 80, Kevin Sheehy (Athlone) 79 82, Mick Ahern (Skerries) 78 83, Stuart Pond (England) 78 83 

162 Declan Kenny (Ardee) 85 77, Dale Baker (Downpatrick) 81 81, Seamus Ward (Laytown & Bettystown) 80 82, George Rodaks (Scotland) 78 84 

163 Raphael Smyth (Laytown & Bettystown) 79 84, Steven Bell (Gracehill Golf Club) 79 84, Mick Gaynor (Co. Meath) 79 84, Turlough Considine (Clontarf) 77 86 

164 Philip Graham (England) 85 79 

165 Seamus Doherty (Ballyliffin) 84 81 , Ian Jeen (Scotland) 83 82 , Stuart Black (Scotland) 81 84 

166 James Johnston (Scotland) 84 82, Liam MacNamara (Rosslare) 84 82, Michael Jones (England) 84 82, Noel Mannion (Dun Laoghaire) 83 83, Richard Cotter (Delgany) 82 84 , Tony Patterson (Scotland) 81 85, Clem Walshe (Dundalk) 80 86 

167 Sean Hosty (Galway) 86 81, Declan Corcoran (Thurles) 81 86, Robert Head (England) 81 86 , Alistair Campbell (Massereene) 80 87 

168 David Mears (Costa Rica) 84 84 

169 Noel Patterson (Milltown) 85 84, Tom Kendellen (Rush) 83 86 

170 Rory Timlin (Galway) 82 88 

171 Greg Kocher (Canada) 83 88 

172 Brian Whitaker (Elm Park) 82 90 

173 Alistair Smith (Blainroe) 84 89 

174 Jack Maguire (Co. Louth) 87 87, Pat Rooney (Laytown & Bettystown) 86 88, Tom Byrne (Greystones) 83 91 

178 Rory Fitzgerald (Tramore) 88 90 

183 Paul Hautz (Delgany) 94 89 

186 John Mullen (Co. Louth) 89 97 

NR  Richard McDowell (Royal Belfast) 76 NR, Jack Dempsey (Royal Curragh) NR 79, Brendan O'Malley (The Royal Dublin) 83 NR 

DQ Sean McGarry (Ballymena) 80 DQ

WD Maurice Kelly (Naas) 76 WD, Glyn Rees (Wales) 77 WD, Nigel Duke (Killiney) 78 WD, Liam Halpin (Westport) 83 WD, Adrian Wynne (Strandhill) 84 WD, Michael O Brien (Co. Louth) 87 WD, Niall Crimmins (Co. Louth) 87 WD , Dermot Morris (Limerick Golf Club) 88 WD , G. A. Finn (Cork) 95 WD

DRAW FOR FINAL ROUND

FIRST TEE

• 08:00 Deasy; Terrell; Morrow
• 08:11 O'Sullivan; Attoe; Jones
• 08:22 Pierse;  Fraser; O'Leary
• 08:33 Crowther; Abridge; Evans
• 08:44 Williams; Quirke; Partridge
• 08:55 Mew; Atkinson; Townsley
• 09:06 Egan; Ready;  East
• 09:17 Mitchell; Stones; Smyth
• 09:28 Brotherston; Carman; Cleary

TENTH TEE

• 8:00 MacKeown; Cowley
• 8:11 Pitches;  Donjon;  Cameron
• 8:22 Pierse; Mellerick;  Burke
• 8:33 Fox; Bingham; Eager
• 8:44 Lilley;  Boyce; McWilliams
• 8:55 Brabazon; Rogers; Berry
• 9:06 Morris;  Galgut; Rogers