Del Moral takes over from McGrane

Open de Portugal: Thomas Bjorn and Carlos Del Moral both shot rounds of 65 to share a two-shot lead at the top of the Estoril…

Open de Portugal:Thomas Bjorn and Carlos Del Moral both shot rounds of 65 to share a two-shot lead at the top of the Estoril Open leaderboard at the end of the second day.

Damien McGrane and Luke Goddard shared the lead at the halfway stage today and while McGrane is still in with a shout tied in third with English pair Steve Webster and Robert Coles, Goddard slid down to joint 16th.

Bjorn hit eight birdies to race to 13 under with a hole to play but the Dane then bogeyed the par five last to join Del Moral on 12 under.

Overnight leader McGrane, of Ireland, Webster and Rock are all on 10 under.

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Webster’s last European Tour title came at the 2007 Portugal Masters and the 35-year-old turned in 34 after starting at the 10th before registering a hat-trick of birdies from the first.

Irishman McGrane had looked on course to set the clubhouse target for the second day running as he advanced to 11 under for the week with six to play.

But the former Volvo China Open winner came unstuck at the 434-yard fourth when his wayward approach led him to shooting a double bogey six before a birdie at the ninth, his last, repaired some of the damage.

Gary Murphy moved to four under with a 69 that could have been better had he not bogeyed the eighth and 15th.

The Irish mover of the day, however, was Darren Clarke whose 67 after a horrible 75 yesterday, saw him climb to safety on two under.

With four holes to play, Simon Thornton needed to pick up a few shots to make the cut and he did so with an eagle at the par five sixth and a birdie at the ninth, his last, but his 71 wasn't enough and he missed out on the weekend's action by the narrowest of margins on level par.

Coles mixed eight birdies with two bogeys in his 66 as he looks for a second top-five finish of the season.

Goddard had a disastrous afternoon, his 73 seeing him plunge to a tie for 16th on seven under along with fellow Englishman John Parry and Wales’ Stuart Manley.