Clarke Lutton ensured the Scottish flag keeps flying at the Ghala Open after overnight leader Ted Innes-Ker slipped off the pace, going into the final round of the MENA Golf Tour’s event on Tuesday.

A good two shots behind at the start, Lutton returned a tidy four-under 68 to reach seven-under for the tournament, one ahead of England’s Luke Joy and two clear of Stuart Archibald and Lee Corfield.

Spain’s Sixto Casabona-navarro and Max Williams of England shared fifth on four under as three players, including 2014 MENA Tour champion Joshua White, were tied for sixth a further shot adrift at three under, raising the prospects of a thrilling finish coming down the stretch on Wednesday.

Lutton rattled off five birdies against a lone bogey (at the 14th) to keep his chances of winning the second event on the tour this season alive.

Clarke Lutton leads MENA Tour event and now looking for second success this month.

“It was a good, consistent round of golf as I never found myself in trouble out there. Holed some nice putts for birdies, especially the ones at 16th from 25 feet and the other at the 18th from 15 feet, which kind of lifted my round,” said the in-form Scotsman, who broke through for his first MENA Golf Tour victory at The Els Club earlier this month.

“It feels great to be in this position going into the final round and will see what tomorrow brings. I am feeling pretty happy with my game, which is good,” said the 27-year-old from Aberdeen.

England’s Joy, who matched the day’s best score of a 68, said he played a lot better that he did in the first round. “Just solid golf and very happy with my round,” said the Englishman, who is a two-time winner on the tour.

The Duke of Roxburghe’s son, Innes-Ker, just failed to recreate the brilliance of his first-round 67 and stumbled to a 78, slipping into a tie for 19th on one over.

“I hit the ball in wrong places on the greens which made it difficult to roll in the putts. And that, perhaps, was the only difference from the first round,” said Innes-Ker, who is playing his fourth season on the MENA Golf Tour.

Clarke Lutton winning earlier this month at the Els Club in Dubai.

“Maybe it was all due to the lack of course knowledge,” said the 31-year-old whose 78 contained six bogeys, including four in a row from the sixth.

England’s James Allan backed up his opening with 70 with a 75 to stay in front in the amateur division, one shot ahead of Karim El Hali of Morocco.

Faycal Serghini carded a second round 77, joining fellow Moroccans Younes El Hassani, who returned back-to-back 73s, Mehdi Saissi and Karim El Hali in a four-way tie for the lead in the MENA Division.

“I was quite unlucky today: twice I couldn’t find the ball on the fairway and once it got stuck in a palm tree, resulting in many dropped shots. This pretty much sums up my horrible day at the course,” said the experienced Moroccan, who currently leads the region’s Order of Merit standings.