Ireland were lying in second place at the end of the first qualifying round of the European Boys Team championship in atrocious weather at Gullane on Scotland's East Lothian links yesterday. When the wind dropped and the rain stopped late in the day, the standard of scoring improved appreciably, with Justin Kehoe, from Birr, Co Offaly, the first to break par with a 70.

Kehoe made the most of a magnificent start - he holed a 90yard wedge shot at the par four first, and then kept the ball out of the ferocious rough into which a visit would cost a lost ball or at least a shot dropped.

Eight pars off the reel saw Kehoe to the turn in two-under-par 33. He dropped his first shot of the day at the 10th, where he missed the green with his approach. But he balanced that out with a birdie four at the long 15th, where he got home downwind with a four-iron second and two-putted from 25 feet.

Kehoe's second dropped shot of the day came at the short 17th where he missed the green left.

A former Munster Boys champion, Kehoe paid tribute to the part former Walker Cup man Richard Coughlan has played in his development as a golfer.

"Richard helped me a lot when I was starting the game and I have tried to model myself on him as a player," he said. Ireland's other scorers were: David Jones with a 76, Robin Symes a 77, Sean McTernan and Mervyn Owens with 79s. Michael McDermot's 82 was the non-counting score.

Just when it looked certain that Ireland would lead at the end of the first day, Wales pipped them on the post.

In the last trio to finish, Matthew Hearne from Milford Haven returned a brilliant two-under-par 69 to hoist Wales into the top spot on 378, three shots ahead of Ireland, with defending champions Spain lying third on 389.