Fourteen-year-old Clayton Small will take a one-shot lead into Saturday’s final round, a shot ahead of fellow teenager Hayden Gulliver.

Small, who was a shot off leader Steve Lill after the first round, produced his best golf on Saturday’s second round to card an even-par 71 for the day.

It left Small a whopping seven shots clear at the halfway mark of the club championship, and while he came back to the field with a 10-over 81 yesterday he remains on top with 224 after 54 holes.

Eighteen-year-old Gulliver shares second place with father Brian on 225, with Dave Connaughton the next best a further four shots back.

Two-time defending champion Mitch Laney has set himself a substantial task going into the final 18 holes, carding 80 and 79 over the weekend to be 10 shots behind Small on 233.

Lill, who rocketed to the top of the leaderboard after the first round with the rare feat of back-to-back eagles, fell out of contention in the third round yesterday after labouring to a 14-over 85.

Rob Roy claimed the lead over Paul Forbes in B-grade and is 

250 after three rounds, with Les Edwards and Clayton’s father Nathan in third and fourth respectively.

In C-grade David Johns leads on 275 ahead of Rhys Crush, Ken Smith and Roger Duggan.

The fourth and final round of Maitland’s club championships will take place on Saturday.

At Kurri Golf Club, 11-time club champion Andrew Wyper stormed back to the top of the 

A-grade leaderboard after carding a two-under 70 in the second round.

Wyper leads by three shots from young gun Josh Stig, who finished two over for the day to sit on 149 after two rounds, while fellow first-round leaders Ian Atkinson and Ray Hodson are a further four shots back.

In B-grade Wayne Curry carded an 81 to take a one-shot lead from Kevin Fielding on 168, with Ben Huckstead another shot back on 169.

Brian Jones leads C-grade on 179 by a shot over George Rzadkowski, while fellow C-grade competitor Darren Matthewson retains the overall nett lead with 134 from Anthony Lucas and Adam Reynolds.

The final day of Kurri’s 54-hole championship is set down for next Saturday.