SOUTHAMPTON’S Richard Bland is four shots off the lead at the halfway stage of the Madeira Islands Open going into today’s third round.

Stoneham’s Bland followed up his opening round 68 with a sparkling second round 67 to lie sixth and trail England's Oliver Wilson, the former Ryder Cup player by four shots.

Wilson knows better than most not to get ahead of himself despite charging into the halfway lead with a superb 65 yesterday.

The former Ryder Cup player from Mansfield has had no fewer than nine runners-up finishes on the European Tour, but has yet to taste victory - and last season lost his card.

Wilson, a member of Nick Faldo's beaten side in Louisville four years ago who has since slumped to 475th in the world, stands 13 under par after his second bogey-free round of the week.

Leaders: (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72): 131 Oliver Wilson 66 65 132 Andy Sullivan 68 64, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 66 66, Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 66 66 134 Sihwan Kim (Nor) 68 66 135 Richard Bland 68 67, Charlie Ford 67 68, Ricardo Santos (Por) 68 67, Morten Orum Madsen (Den) 66 69 136 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 69 67, Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 64 72, Hans Peter Bacher (Aut) 67 69, Tommy Fleetwood 66 70, David Dixon 68 68, Lloyd Kennedy 71 65 137 Alex Haindl (Rsa) 69 68, Thomas Norret (Den) 69 68, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 70 67, Knut Borsheim (Nor) 68 69, Alastair Forsyth 69 68, Matthew Baldwin 67 70 138 Gary Orr 69 69, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 70 68, Sion E Bebb 69 69, Chris Paisley 69 69, Ben Parker 66 72, Jamie McLeary 69 69, Jordi Garcia (Spa) 72 66, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 70 68, Andrew McArthur 70 68, James Heath 69 69, Andreas Harto (Den) 67 71, Christopher Doak 70 68 139 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 69 70, Roope Kakko (Fin) 70 69, Adam Gee 68 71, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 70 69, Warren Abery (Rsa) 67 72, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 70 69, Pedro Oriol (Spa) 69 70