Women's Open: Sweden's Sophie Gustafson admitted she was not at her best during the second round of the £150,000 BT Ladies Open at Warrenpoint GC, but held on to the lead as she aims for her second Irish victory of the year.

The 29-year-old from Saro, near Gothenburg, shot a three-under-par 69 to take the lead on nine under par, one shot clear of England's Alison Nicholas, who had a 69 as she aims to win her first title in Europe since the 1996 Guardian Irish Open.

New Zealander Lynnette Brooky had a 70 and is tucked in behind in outright third place on seven under.

Florence Descampe from Belgium made a late flurry to creep up the leaderboard with a 70 and share fourth place with Australian Rebecca Stevenson - the 2003 LET rookie of the year elect - on six under par.

And keeping her chances of a Solheim Cup place well and truly alive is Ana-Belen Sanchez from Spain, who had a 71 to tack on to her opening 69, tied on five under par with Denmark's Iben Tinning, who is assured of her place in Europe's team in a month's time.

Gustafson, who is the 2 to 1 favourite to win back-to-back titles after her dramatic victory in the HP Open in Stockholm last week, sailed through the front nine, racking up consecutive birdies at the second, third and fourth holes to turn in 34.

Gustafson dropped her only shot of the round at the 13th but birdied the 17th for a back nine of 35 for 69.

The cut fell at five-over-par 149 with 64 players making it through to the weekend. Unfortunately none of the eight Irish in the field made it through, with Yvonne Cassidy, Debbie Hanna and Tricia Mangan the best of the home crew on 151.