NIALL KEARNEY and Simon Thornton both broke 70 but still slipped further down the leaderboard on a day of red-hot scoring in the third round of the European Tour Qualifying School final stage at PGA de Catalunya.

MICHAEL HOEY broke the course record with a flawless eight-under-par 63 in the first round of the European Tour School stage one qualifier at Carden Park, Cheshire, yesterday.