Simon Thornton continued to lead the Irish charge towards a European Tour card with another sterling display in the final qualifying school at Catalunya in Spain yesterday.

The 37-year-old from Newcastle,County Down, fired a three under par 67 for a 54-hole aggregate of 204, eight below par.

However he is still six strokes adrift of leader Pelle Edberg who carded a stunning 63.

Peter Lawrie and Kevin Phelan are still very much in contention for a card but Michael McGeady and Gareth Maybin appear to have too much ground to make up.

Thornton,winner of the St.Omar Challenge Tour event in 2013 had halves of 33 and 34 yesterday,collecting four birdies and just one bogey on the fifth.

He finished with a birdie four after eight straight pars from the turn.

Lawrie is only one stroke behind Thornton after also shooting a 67 while 24-year-old former Walker Cup player Phelan bounded up the field with a scintillating five under par 65 for a 206 total.

Dublin-born Lawrie, 40, a professional for 17 years and with just one European win to his name, enjoyed a bogey-free round yesterday and collected three birdies.

Waterford man Phelan, who shared 62nd place in the 2013 US Open, dragged himself back into contention after a brilliant back nine, eagling the 10th and making three birdies on his way home in a sensational 30.

McGeady is on 216 and in joint 85th place, while Maybin is a stroke further back in joint 92nd spot and both appear to be out of the reckoning.

With one round to go until the field is cut to the top 70 ahead of the final two tours of the Stadium Course, the current qualifying mark is set to fall at level par.

Scores:

198 P Edberg (Swe) 73 62 63;

199 A Lahiri (Ind) 65 68 66;

201 R Gonzalez (Arg) 68 68 65;

202 R McEvoy (Eng) 73 65 64; M Korhonen (Fin) 72 65 65; R Karlberg (Swe) 67 68 67;

203 T Murray (Eng) 76 64 63; B Åkesson (Swe) 72 68 63; E Kofstad (Nor) 72 67 64; M Ford (Eng) 74 64 65; R Paratore (Ita) 67 70 66; M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 70 66 67;

204 C Lloyd (Eng) 72 66 66; C Gloet (Den) 64 74 66; S Thornton (Irl) 68 69 67; S Soderberg (Swe) 67 70 67; P Oriol (Esp) 70 66 68;

205 D Dixon (Eng) 68 72 65; E Cuartero Blanco (am) (Esp) 74 65 66; P Lawrie (Irl) 71 67 67; S Manley (Wal) 66 72 67; A Dodt (Aus) 66 71 68; S Walker (Eng) 66 71 68;

206 R Gouveia (Por) 74 68 64; J Hansen (Den) 71 71 64; K Phelan (Irl) 69 72 65; K Ferrie (Eng) 66 75 65; N Geyger (Chi) 66 74 66; A Otaegui (Esp) 67 71 68; A Pavan (Ita) 69 67 70;

207 C Del Moral (Esp) 68 74 65; B Evans (Eng) 73 68 66; B Virto (Esp) 77 63 67; S Kim (Kor) 73 67 67; C Bouniol (Fra) 72 68 67; R Kellett (Sco) 70 70 67; C Paisley (Eng) 70 69 68; P Maddy (Eng) 67 72 68; J Lagergren (Swe) 66 72 69; M Delpodio (Ita) 68 68 71; J Parry (Eng) 68 68 71;

208 P Whiteford (Sco) 77 66 65; M Orrin (Eng) 69 73 66; J Scrivener (Aus) 77 64 67; M Soegaard (Den) 67 73 68; A Tadini (Ita) 72 67 69; E De La Riva (Esp) 71 68 69; D Im (USA) 66 73 69; S Fallon (Eng) 72 65 71;

209 T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 67 75 67; S Gros (Fra) 67 75 67; J Knutzon (USA) 66 76 67; P Widegren (Swe) 70 71 68; A Marshall (Eng) 69 71 69;

210 L Jensen (Den) 69 74 67; S Henry (Sco) 70 72 68; M Jonzon (Swe) 69 73 68; B Seuk-Hyun (Kor) 67 75 68; L De Jager (RSA) 73 68 69; E Goya (Arg) 71 68 71; M Both (Aus) 70 69 71; A Saddier (Fra) 66 73 71;

211 S Griffiths (Eng) 76 68 67; M Wiegele (Aut) 74 69 68; A Velasco (Esp) 69 74 68; J Gonnet (Fra) 68 73 70; J Guerrier (Fra) 69 71 71; J Makitalo (Fin) 66 74 71;

212 S Chawrasia (Ind) 71 72 69; V Riu (Fra) 75 66 71; H Shun Yat (Hkg) 67 74 71;

213 G Porteous (Eng) 80 64 69; G Lockerbie (Eng) 76 67 70; J Stalter (Fra) 69 74 70; A Ahokas (Fin) 66 76 71; N Elvira (Esp) 71 70 72;

214 J Lara (Esp) 72 74 68; D Stewart (Sco) 67 76 71; A Björk (Swe) 72 70 72; P Archer (Eng) 68 74 72;

215 B Hafthorsson (Isl) 74 73 68; D Coupland (Eng) 76 70 69; W Homan (USA) 77 68 70; J Fahrbring (Swe) 74 70 71; D Woltman (USA) 72 72 71; B Parker (Eng) 67 77 71; D Markle (Can) 70 72 73;

216 M McGeady (Irl) 71 75 70; J Huldahl (Den) 67 79 70; B Ritthammer (Ger) 76 69 71; A Knappe (Ger) 74 69 73; G Drakeford (Aus) 71 72 73; N Chaudhuri (Eng) 73 68 75;

217 G Cambis (Fra) 69 79 69; J Lucquin (Fra) 75 72 70; R Kakko (Fin) 72 74 71; F Andersson Hed (Swe) 76 69 72; H Joannes (Bel) 75 70 72; L Slattery (Eng) 75 70 72; G Maybin (Nir) 74 71 72; S Wakefield (Eng) 72 72 73; P Hedblom (Swe) 74 69 74; C Shinkwin (Eng) 73 70 74; A Hortal (Esp) 72 71 74;

218 S Dodd (Wal) 79 67 72; C Pigem (Esp) 77 69 72; M Schneider (Ger) 72 74 72; J Hahn (USA) 67 79 72; D Huizing (Ned) 76 69 73; T Tree (Eng) 71 73 74; N Kimsey (Eng) 70 74 74; B Hellgren (Swe) 75 68 75;

219 G Houston (Wal) 70 78 71; J Kunzenbacher (Ger) 78 68 73; L Kennedy (Eng) 79 66 74; W Harrold (Eng) 71 74 74;

220 M Bremner (RSA) 80 70 70; D Løkke (Den) 73 75 72; J Billing (Swe) 71 76 73; R De Sousa (Sui) 71 75 74; J Walters (RSA) 73 70 77; R Coles (Eng) 70 73 77; J Edfors (Swe) 66 77 77;

221 Z Lombard (RSA) 77 74 70; A Bernadet (Fra) 75 75 71; J Glennemo (Swe) 76 70 75; M Rocchi (Fra) 70 76 75; W Booth (Sco) 80 65 76; N Quintarelli (Ita) 79 66 76; N Dougherty (Eng) 68 77 76; J Winther (Den) 73 69 79;

222 D Ulrich (Sui) 76 74 72; K Subregis (Fra) 69 81 72; T Sluiter (Ned) 74 74 74; B Hemstock (Eng) 77 70 75; H Porteous (RSA) 71 75 76; S Heisele (Ger) 78 66 78; R Santos (Por) 72 72 78;

224 J Wahlqvist (Swe) 81 69 74; A Canete (Arg) 71 79 74; M Southgate (Eng) 70 80 74; I Garrido (Esp) 70 77 77; D Papadatos (Aus) 78 67 79; R Davies (Wal) 73 71 80;

225 M Brown (Nzl) 84 70 71; R McGowan (Eng) 68 78 79;

226 O Bekker (RSA) 75 77 74; P Howard (am) (Eng) 70 81 75;

227 O Henningsson (Swe) 80 76 71; T Linard (Fra) 80 70 77; J Elson (Eng) 71 73 83;

229 J Wilson (Aus) 71 79 79;

230 P Price (Wal) 73 78 79;

231 N Floren (Swe) 83 68 80;

232 B Ninyette (Aus) 77 74 81;

999 J Remesy (Fra) 72 WD 0;