RICHARD BLAND made a fighting recovery at The Belfry yesterday to reach the final two rounds of the Benson and Hedges Open.

While two other southern hopefuls Justin Rose and Gary Emerson crashed out, Stoneham tournament professional Bland showed genuine quality for a three-under-par second round of 69 which left him on level par figures for the tournament.

It was good enough to lift him up into 36th place, six shots off the lead held jointly by a back-to-form Colin Montgomerie, South Africa's Roger Wessels and Greg Owen from Mansfield.

Bland's composue over the finishing stretch saw him through. He teed off at the tenth and picked up his first birdie at the 11th, only to give the shot back at the 13th.

Another birdie at 13 was cancelled out with a bogey at 16, Then after improving to two over at the 17th, the man from Marchwood, who was disqualified in France last week, settled into a nice rhythm.

He played his second nine in two under par, gaining shots at the first and the par three seventh. The rest of the second half he played in par to comfortably sail through the half-way cut.

Rose, like Bland, began the day at three over, but his chances of surviving the half-way cut looked grim as he made bogies at three of his first four holes.

Typical of Rose he didn't give up the ghost and snapped back with a couple of birdies but coming to the tenth where most players cautiously lay up before the water, he had to gamble and it backfired badly.

A triple bogey seven left him eight over and when another shot slipped away at the 11th it was all over bar the shouting for the young man who won so well in Japan last week. A double bogey at the last left the youngster on a miserable ten over par.

Gary Emerson was another man hitting the southbound lane of the M40 after a couple of double bogies contributed to a final round of 79 - seven over par which was a big disappointment to the Salisbury player who began the day well placed at one over.