Shane McDermott will be the man to beat on the final day of the East of Ireland. Photo: Thos Caffrey / Golffile.

Slieve Russell’s Shane McDermott eagled the 18th to card a second successive 68 and take a one-stroke lead into the final two rounds of the East of Ireland Amateur Open Championship at County Louth.

The 25-year-old is looking to improve on his run of the semi-finals of the West of Ireland Championship at Easter but he has a host of talented players chasing him down with Portumna’s Sam Murphy his nearest rival after carding a best-of-the-day 67 to get to seven-under-par heading into Monday’s final 36 holes.

McDermott “flushed” a 222-yard four-iron to 12 feet to set up his eagle at the last and while he made bogeys at the par-three seventh and 15th holes, birdies at the third, sixth, 13th and 14th were enough to see him top the leaderboard at halfway.

McDermott and Murphy will be joined in the final group by defending champion Alex Maguire from Laytown & Bettystown, who added a 70 to his opening 68.

"It’s unfamiliar territory,” McDermott said. “I got to the semi-final of the West this year and hopefully learned a lot from that experience. Just bring it into tomorrow and see what we can do. It’s only halfway there, 36 to go.”

He believes he’s “slowly but surely getting there” thanks to the work he does with Chris Selfridge and coach Gordon Smyth in Slieve Russell.

“Just me and him do so much work together, sometimes we could kill each other,” he said. “It works out so well, he puts a lot of work into me and thankfully it is paying off. Between the two of them I owe a lot to them.”

Recently returned from college at Grand Canyon University in Nevada, Murphy dropped just one stroke in his 67— at the par-three 17th — on a day where he didn't feel like he hit the ball his best but managed to take his chances.

“We’re only halfway there, there is still a lot of golf to be played,” said Murphy, who has his father Brian on his bag. “The past two rounds have been just keeping yourself in it really, giving yourself a shot and I’m lucky enough to be near the top. We’ll just see how it goes tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it. Just keep doing what I’ve been doing.

“It’s great to have Dad on the bag, keep your mind off golf and then when you have a shot it’s all about focusing on it. Tomorrow, I'll just take it as it comes and see what happens.”

Maguire would love to enjoy a successful summer and stake his claim to a Walker Cup place with some big performances.

Sam Murphy. Photo: Thos Caffrey / Golffile

But he knows team selections are out of his control and just hopes to continue doing what he’s doing.

“There's so many great players battling for those 10 spots,” he said. “Hopefully, my scores are good enough when it comes to team selection, so I'm trying to take care of my business to the best of my abilities, and I'll be happy regardless of what may or may not happen.”

Maguire is tied for third with Westport man Harry Gillivan, the first-round leader now playing out of Portmarnock, after the Connacht man followed his opening's 67 with a 71. But there is a host of strong players in the chasing pack, headed by Walker Cup player Caolan Rafferty, Elm Park’s John Cleary and Clandenboes’ Ross Latimer just three behind.

The cut fell at one-over par 45 with 43 players going through to Monday’s final 36 holes.

See tee-times.

AIG Irish Close champion Quentin Carew (74) and internationals Colm Campbell (75) and Joshua Hill (76) were the highest-profile casualties as they missed out by one stroke on 146..

East of Ireland Amateur Open, County Louth (Par 72)

After 36 holes

Detailed scores

136 Shane McDermott (Slieve Russell) 68 68;

137 Sam Murphy (Portumna) 70 67;

138 Alex Maguire (Laytown & Bettystown) 68 70, Harry Gillivan (Portmarnock) 67 71;

139 Caolan Rafferty (Dundalk) 71 69; John Cleary (Elm Park) 70 70; Ross Latimer (Clandeboye) 68 72;

141 David Shiel (Enniscrone) 72 69; Jack McDonnell (Forrest Little) 69 72; Lee O’Meara (Tullamore) 68 73;

142 Darragh Flynn (Carton House) 73 69; Simon Ward (Belvoir Park) 71 71; Eoin Murphy (Dundalk) 71 71; Lewis Gowdy (Bangor) 70 72; Charlie Mooney (Ballinasloe) 69 73; Rory Williamson (Holywood) 69 73; Eoghan O’Donnell (Tralee) 69 73; Niall Carroll (Dunmurry) 69 73;

143 Adam Doran (County Louth) 75 68, Jordan Hood (Galgorm Castle) 73 70, James Fox (Portmarnock) 72 71, David Lally (Blainroe) 71 72, Michael Reid (Galgorm Castle) 71 72, Matthew McClean (Malone) 70 73, Conor Murtagh (The Island) 70 73, Cian Dullaghan (Greenore) 70 73, Gareth Bohill (County Louth) 69 74;

144 Max Stanley (Roehampton) 75 69, Paul O’Hanlon (Carton House) 74 70, Jamie Butler (Killeen) 74 70, Ian Lynch (Rosslare) 73 71, Cian Harkin (Letterkenny) 73 71, Richard Knightly (Royal Dublin) 70 74, Robbie Cannon (Balbriggan) 70 74;

145 Evan Farrell (County Louth) 75 70, Fionn Dobbin (Malone) 74 71, Conor Harrington (Royal Dublin) 73 72, Paul Coughlan (Castleknock) 72 73, TJ Ford (County Sligo) 72 73, Peter O’Keeffe (Douglas) 72 73, Keith Egan (Carton House) 70 75, Adam Buchanan (Royal Portrush) 70 75;

Missed the cut

146 Jordan Boles (Charleville) 77 69, Annraoi Collins (Portmarnock) 75 71, Evan Shipp (Headfort) 74 72, Seán Desmond (Monkstown) 73 73, Colin Woodroofe (Dun Laoghaire) 72 74, Quentin Carew (Castleknock) 72 74, Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint) 71 75, Joshua Hill (Galgorm Castle) 70 76;

147 Eoin Sullivan (Portmarnock) 74 73, Jordan Hyland (Omagh) 74 73, Gerard Dunne (County Louth) 73 74, Padraig O Dochartaigh (Gweedore) 72 75, Robert Brazill (Naas) 72 75, James Hewitt (Tandragee) 71 76, Simon Walker (Roscommon) 70 77, Liam Abom (Edmondstown) 70 77;

148 Geoff Lenehan (Portmarnock) 76 72, David Reddan (Nenagh) 74 74, Graham Callaghan (County Louth) 73 75, James Lindsay (North West) 79 70, Dean O’ Riordan (Fermoy) 79 70;

149 Karl Bornemann (Douglas) 75 74, Aidan Dooley (Carton House) 75 74, Jason Rackard (Bunclody Golf & Fishing Club) 74 75, Conor Hickey (Dooks) 74 75, James Walsh (Douglas) 73 76, Finlay Eager (Royal Belfast) 73 76, Ben Best (Rathmore) 71 78, Aaron Marshall (Lisburn) 71 78;

150 Brandon St John (Portmarnock) 78 72, Karl Murray (Arklow) 77 73; Darren McCormack (Corrstown) 75 75, Adam Kelly (New Forest) 75 75, Thomas Beaumont (Bangor) 74 76, Brian Doran (Baltinglass) 74 76;

151 Sean Ryan (The Royal Dublin) 76 75, Morgan Cain (Cork) 75 76, Cian O’Connor (Roscommon) 75 76, Charlie Cooley (Belvoir Park) 74 77, Matthew Giles (Greenore) 72 79;

152 Adam Smith (Mullingar) 78 74, Sean McAufield (Stonebridge) 78 74, David Foy (Laytown & Bettystown) 77 75, Ruairi Kennelly (Castleknock) 77 75, Bryan Ronan (County Louth) 76 76, Matthew Dodd (St Anne’s) 74 78, Conor Byrne (Strabane) 74 78, Ciarán Johnston (Dundalk) 74 78;

153 Thomas Finnegan (County Sligo) 80 73, Rían Carvill (Warrenpoint) 79 74, Robbie Walsh (Douglas) 79 74, William Beatty (Royal Portrush) 78 75; Jamie Kelly (Dundalk) 76 77, Allan Kiernan (Forrest Little) 74 79;

154 Noel Crawford (Mourne) 77 77, Kevin Robinson (Castlewarden) 76 78, Daniel Sweeney (Corrstown) 76 78, Paraic Connolly (The Links Portmarnock) 75 79, Matthew Grehan (Tullamore) 74 80;

155 Mark O’Sullivan (Laytown and Bettystown) 80 75, Max Carson (Royal Belfast) 77 78, Ruairi O’Connor (County Sligo) 77 78, Adam Allahbachani (Powerscourt) 72 83, Ciaran Boggan (County Meath) 80 76'

156 Eoin Marsden (Tullamore) 77 79;

157 Liam Hutchinson (Royal Dublin) 80 77, AJ McCabe (Malahide) 80 77, Cathal Butler (Kinsale) 77 80, Lorcan O’Connor (Edmondstown) 77 80, Nathan Sproule (Cliftonville) 77 80;

158 Richard Finn (Newbridge) 79 79;

159 Aaron McNulty (Lahinch) 80 79;

160 Michael Delaney (Emirates Golf Federation) 81 79, Killian McGinley (Sunningdale) 77 83;

161 Cian Hall (Castletroy) 80 81, Paraic McGrath (Galway Bay) 79 82, David Muldowney (Naas) 75 86;

162 Gavan Keogh (Galway) 82 80

163 Sean Deasy (Douglas) 86 77, John Cunningham (Carton House) 78 85;

164 Donal O’Reilly (Farnham Estate) 82 82;

165 Cathal MacCanna (Carton House) 75 90;

167 Aaron Foley (Edmondstown) 83 84;

168 Adam Fahey (Seapoint) 85 83, Mark Allen (Florida state Golf Association) 79 89,

DNF Mel Deasy (Douglas), Cormac Crowe (Castleknock), Michael Green (Greenore)