GOLF: Paul Casey led the Heineken Classic into the weekend after spearheading an English raid on the leaderboard with a five-under-par second round of 67.

It was more than enough for the 25-year-old to retain the outright lead at Royal Melbourne and secured a two-shot advantage on 12 under par. Casey had negotiated the testing opening day conditions to shoot seven under and lead overnight by one shot.

However, for Ireland's Peter Laurie it was another disappointment. The Dubliner failed to qualify for the second week running despite a second round one under par 71. But the damage was done with the opening 79 which left him on 150 - six outside the cut which came at 144.

David Lynn charged into second place on 10-under with a round of 65 that included just the one dropped shot.

Australian Open champion Stephen Allan was sandwiched in third place on eight under while Steve Webster was a shot further back with a seven under aggregate of 137.

Perhaps the round of the day came from Ian Poulter who finished alongside John Bickerton - two of five players on six under par having teed off at two over.

Poulter staged a thrilling recovery to reach the 14th hole with seven birdies and an eagle on the par-five 10th.

He got back to even par with successive birdies on the opening two holes and was on target for a course record but dropped a shot at the 15th to finished eight under for the day, the best score of the championship so far.

Nick Faldo slipped up on the backward nine to drop three shots and finish the day on four-under having threatened to break into the immediate chasing pack.

Casey, who led on seven under after Thursday's rain ravaged opening, picked up five more shots in a blustery but warm Royal Melbourne.

He made up for dropped shots at the fourth and 11th by sinking the tournament's first eagle at the ninth and five birdies to post a 36-hole total of 132.

Casey began the day with a birdie on the first and despite the dropped shot on four, he reached the turn in a three-under par 33.

A birdie three on 10 was ruined by that slip on the 11th, but consecutive threes on the par-four 14th and 15th left him on top.

Lynn moved from his overnight three under to join Allan on minus eight after the Australian had sunk three birdies in his first eight holes to surge into second spot.

It was another battling day for defending champion Ernie Els, who eventually finished on even par to remain on two under for the tournament.

The South African improved on his overnight score with successive birdies but dropped five shots on a disastrous outward nine.

The pre-tournament favourite played the back nine steadily, sinking two birdies for a hard fought 72.

"I have lost my rhythm again this week," said the South African who came into the tournament on the back of two wins and a second place in the last three weeks.

"I don't think I hit one right club today. The wind played with us."

Els shared two under with former major champions Paul Lawrie and Greg Norman.

The cut was level par, eliminating the likes of Costantino Rocca (one over), while England's Greg Owen was forced to pull out with a back injury.

HEINEKEN CLASSIC

(at Royal Melbourne, Australia)

Second round (Par 72) 132 - P Casey 65 67; 134 - D Lynn 69 65; 136 - S Allan (Aus) 68 68; 137 - S Webster 68 69; 138 - N Fasth (Swe) 68 70, S Kjeldsen (Den) 71 67, I Poulter 74 64, T Bjorn (Den) 70 68, J Bickerton 68 70, R Lee (Nzl) 69 69. 139 - P Lonard (Aus) 67 72, I Garbutt 68 71, P Fowler (Aus) 67 72, D Smail (Nzl) 71 68, A Atwal (Ind) 69 70. 140 - F Andersson (Swe) 72 68, S Luna (Esp) 66 74, A Wall 70 70, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 71 69, Gary Evans 67 73, N Faldo 69 71, R Gonzalez (Arg) 68 72, S Gallacher 70 70, R Green (Aus) 69 71, M Pearce (Nzl) 71 69, J Donaldson 74 66. 141 - E Lee 70 71, S Collins (Aus) 69 72, B Rumford (Aus) 71 70, B Kennedy (Aus) 71 70, G Turner (Nzl) 68 73, L Parsons (Aus) 68 73, D Bransdon (Aus) 74 67, W Bennett 67 74, M Gronberg (Swe) 72 69, J Berendt (Arg) 73 68. 142 - N O'Hern (Aus) 71 71, P Sjoland (Swe) 73 69, M Long (Nzl) 74 68, E Els (Rsa) 70 72, A Tschudin (Aus) 69 73, K Ferrie 70 72, J Moseley (Aus) 70 72, G Norman (Aus) 73 69, P Lawrie 71 71, S Hend (Aus) 72 70, P Sheehan (Aus) 72 70, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 73, Cameron Percy (Aus) 71 71. 143 - JF Remesy (Fra) 70 73, B Friend (USA) 70 73, S Laycock (Aus) 73 70, N Green (Aus) 70 73, D Park 75 68, L James 73 70, D Diaz (Aus) 73 70, S Hansen (Den) 72 71. 144 - B Davis 70 74, E Walters (Aus) 74 70, D Fichardt (Rsa) 70 74, J Randhawa (Ind) 71 73, S Khan 72 72, T Carolan (Aus) 70 74, D Robertson 72 72, G Simpson (Aus) 72 72, S Bowditch (Aus) 72 72, Chris Downes (Aus) 72 72, S Gardiner (Aus) 73 71, C Wi (Kor) 74 70, N Dougherty (Eng) 72 72.

Missed Cut 145 - M Doyle (Aus) 70 75, G Paddison (Nzl) 71 74, E Canonica (Ita) 75 70, Adam Mednick (Swe) 70 75, B Jones (Aus) 73 72, W Riley (Aus) 71 74, M Ecob (Aus) 72 73, Nathan Gatehouse (Aus) 70 75, S Leaney (Aus) 69 76, M Maritz (Rsa) 76 69, J Cooper (Aus) 73 72, C Carmichael (Aus) 71 74, S Conran (Aus) 76 69, D McKenzie (Aus) 73 72. 146 - M Allen (Aus) 75 71, A Buckle (Aus) 76 70, M Clayton (Aus) 76 70, Steen Tinning (Den) 73 73, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73 73, H Bjornstad (Nor) 73 73, D Gilford 74 72, M Norgren (Swe) 72 74, C Spence (Aus) 73 73, A Le Vesconte (Aus) 71 75. 147 - R Ball (Aus) 75 72, R Derksen (Ned) 72 75, C Hoffman (USA) 75 72, B King (Aus) 73 74, D Gleeson (Aus) 74 73, M Lafeber (Ned) 73 74, A Forsbrand (Swe) 72 75, M Light (Aus) 76 71, C Rocca (Ita) 74 73, A Stolz (Aus) 71 76, R Bland 74 73. 148 - C Rodiles (Spa) 73 75, M Pilkington 73 75, T Johnstone (Zim) 71 77, D Drysdale 73 75, P Senior (Aus) 73 75, M Blackey 73 75, D Labelle (USA) 77 71. 149 - B Andrews (Aus) 75 74, T Price (Aus) 76 73, S Struver (Ger) 75 74, M Martin (Spa) 71 78, W Smith (Aus) 72 77, M Harwood (Aus) 75 74, D Carter 73 76. 150 - M Wright (Aus) 75 75, G Havret (Fra) 74 76, Peter Lawrie 79 71, A Crawford (Aus) 73 77, R Muntz (Ned) 73 77, T Dier (Ger) 74 76, A Bonhomme (Aus) 78 72, E Stedman (Aus) 77 73, D Howell 79 71. 151 - Jon Riley (Aus) 78 73, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 75 76, B Hughes (Aus) 74 77, R Russell 75 76. 152- B Lane 76 76, L Mckechnie (Aus) 75 77, G Dodd (Aus) 74 78, G Joyner (Aus) 73 79, A Percey (Aus) 77 75. 153 - J King (Aus) 78 75, M Olander (Swe) 77 76, J Lucquin (Fra) 78 75. 154- W Grady (Aus) 74 80, J Horvath (Aus) 72 82, M Ilonen (Fin) 78 76, C Jones (Aus) 74 80, R Jacquelin (Fra) 78 76, S Dyson 80 74, M Cain (Aus) 75 79. 155 - J Lomas 74 81, P Hedblom (Swe) 78 77, H Stenson (Swe) 78 77. 156 - A Coltart 81 75, A Groom (Aus) 76 80. 158 - C Dennis (USA) 77 81. 159 - K Felton (Aus) 81 78.