A stunning, course-record 63 from Luke Donald late in the day, deprived Ireland of the outright lead at the end of the first stroke-play qualifying round in the European Men's Amateur Team Championship here at Ljunghusens GC.

So, Ireland and England are level on 16-under-par, with all of the 10 counting players scoring par or better.

Under a burning sun and with only a gentle breeze, conditions were perfect for scoring, provided one's stamina held up.

As it was, Timmy Rice gave Ireland a wonderful start with a sparkling 65 and there were 67s from Stephen Browne and Graeme McDowell.

But in his attitude as well as the quality of his play, Donald showed why he is currently one of the world's leading amateur players. When he had signed his card, English officials cautioned that the media had only a few minutes to talk to him, since the team bus was leaving.

"I won't be going on the bus," the 23-year-old graduate from North-western University in Chicago informed them. "I want to do about 20 minutes' on the putting green."

Which meant that alternative travelling arrangements were promptly made. Indicative of superb approach play was that his eight-under-par score was achieved with the relatively high tally of 28 putts.

There was a two-putt birdie at the long 14th and he hit every green in regulation with the exception of the eighth, where he got up and down for a par. The round finished with three birdies, the last of them a splendid up and down from a right greenside bunker at the 556-yard 18th.

It was a difficult recovery which slipped 12 feet past the target, but Donald seemed to will the left-to -right breaking putt into the hole, as the ball wriggled stubbornly before dropping.

It was ironic that England should have had to watch Ireland increase in dominance through the day, before their top player made his move to wipe out the deficit. Rice, who led the qualifiers in the British Amateur last year, laid the groundwork by posting his score at lunch-time.

To his own surprise, he drove the ball beautifully. And rewards soon came when, after starting on the 10th, he birdied the 13th, 15th, 16th and 18th, the longest of his putts being from three feet. He went on to birdie the fifth, with a remarkably long 10-footer and had a two-putt birdie at the 506-yard sixth. "I got a couple of good drives away early on and they helped me to settle down," he said afterwards. Then, prophetically in the context of Donald's effort later in the day, he added: "The score was there to be done."

Browne lent immediate support, so easing pressure on the remainder of the side, even though Michael McDermott had slipped to a 75. The key to Browne's round was covering the last six holes in three-under, including birdies at the 17th and 18th.

At the 374-yard 17th, he wedged to three feet and he then got up and down from over the back of the 18th for a closing four. "The greens are a really nice pace and I got the feel of them beautifully," he said of his debut at this level. "I'm delighted."

McDowell started on the 10th and turned two-under after birdies on the 15th and 18th. And after some scrappy play early in his homeward journey, he regained control by sinking a six-footer for a birdie on the sixth and went on to hole from 12 feet for a two at the short ninth. "I feel very comfortable here," he said afterwards. "I was a bit drained, mentally, during the British Amateur but I'm now refreshed again and really looking forward to the remainder of the week."

Michael Hoey had a chance of matching this score but when four-under with three to play, he bogeyed his 16th and 17th holes.

Scores: 1- 339 Ireland (T Rice 65, S Browne 67, G McDowell 67, M Hoey 69, N Fox 71. Non-counting - M McDermott 75); England (L Donald 63, N Dougherty 69, J Elson 69, R McEvoy 69, G Wolstenholme 69. NC - G Clark 71); 3 - 347 Sweden; 4 - 353 Finland; Wales (N Edwards 69, L Harpin 70, C Williams 70, M Griffiths 72, K Sullivan 72. NC I Campbell 76); 6 - 356 Austria, Iceland, Netherlands, Scotland (B Hume 70, S O'Hara 70, M Warren 70, S Mackenzie 72, C Watson 74. NC_- C Heap 75); 10 - 357 France; 11 - 359 Spain; 12 - 360 Denmark, Germany; 14 - 361 Switzerland; 15 - 361 Italy; 16 - 373 Portugal; 17 - 374 Norway; 18 - 380 Belgium; 19 - 384 Czech Republic; 20 - 396 Slovenia; 21 - 403 Greece; 22 - 409 Estonia; 23 - 417 Croatia.