Paul Dunne heads the Irish challenge, nine shots off leader Garrick Higgo, ahead of Sunday's final round at the Canary Islands Championship.
The Greystones golfer is on 11 under after a 66 on Saturday, with Niall Kearney two shots behind him on nine under after he carded a 72.
But it's in-form South African Higgo who leads the way on 20 under as the 21-year-old carded two eagles, two bogeys and five birdies to secure a 64, matching second-placed Richard Mansell's third-round score.
England's Mansell will start Sunday two behind Higgo after his bogey-free round, one shot further clear of Scotland's Calum Hill, who birdied the five par-fives on his way to a 66.
Hill admitted that the chasing pack face a daunting task to reel in Higgo and believes he will need to get his game in order off the tee to have any chance of mounting a challenge.
"It was a good score for what I had to play with," he said. "My driver wasn't behaving itself all day.
"In order for me to win I'll need a bit of help from Garrick. If he plays like he did today he'll run away with it, so I'll need a very low one and a bit of help."
