It all started with a 23-second advantage gained over Steve Hendy on the opening stage, and it's been a direct one-two joust between these two so far since then, with Boland taking victory in every stage, bar one - SS4.

That was when Bob Fowden's Mitsubishi Lancer took the honours by two seconds from Hendy, three from Boland and John Price.

But Boland has proved just about unbeatable so far across the roads of Wexford, with Hendy, Fowden and Price surely hoping they can change those circumstances on the decisive day.

Tim Ball is holding his own in joint fifth, with Fethard Rally champion David James alongside him, with new navigator Jim Crowe in tow.

That's quite some achievement for the Goreyman, especially as his is the only back-wheel drive two-wheel drive car among the four-wheel drive leaders - and his is the only clubmans car among the WRCs.

Boland's lead of one minute 29 seconds is significant when compared with the closeness of times further down the list - a mere 24 seconds divide fifth from eleventh, with Shay Power, Aaron McHale, Martin O'Connell, Kieran Molloy and Derek Smith certain to turn up the heat on each other in the second half of this year's rally.

Here's how our colleagues at North East Rally Services score it - further detailed results for each and every competitior can be found in our LIVE RESULTS section.

Position		Number	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Class	Total	Difference
O/A	Class							from prev	from 1st
1	1	1	Eamonn Boland	Damien Morrisey	Subaru WRC S7	8	0:45:13
2	2	4	Steve Hendy	Aled Davies	Ford Escort Coswor	8	0:46:42	0:01:29	0:01:29
3	1	6	Bob Fowden	Jerry Hynes	Mitsubishi Lancer	4	0:46:57	0:00:15	0:01:44
4	1	2	John Price	Caroline Price	Metro 6R4	15	0:47:29	0:00:32	0:02:16
5	1	8	Tim Ball	Rob Watson	Darrian T90	13	0:48:04	0:00:35	0:02:51
6	2	14	David James	Jim Crowe	Ford Escort BDX	13	0:48:04		0:02:51
7	3	20	Shay Power	Martin Croke	Ford Escort	13	0:48:13	0:00:09	0:03:00
8	2	7	Aaron MacHale	Damien Connolly	Mitsubishi Lancer	4	0:48:19	0:00:06	0:03:06
9	3	19	Martin O'Connell	Ger Healy	Ford Escort Coswor	8	0:48:23	0:00:04	0:03:10
10	3	9	Kieran Molloy	Brian Boland	Mitsubishi Lancer	4	0:48:27	0:00:04	0:03:14
11	1	15	Derek Smith	Paddy Flanigan	Ford Escort	14	0:48:28	0:00:01	0:03:15
12	4	5	Tom Holton	Andrew Cullen	Toyota Celicia	8	0:48:55	0:00:27	0:03:42
13	5	11	Tim Wilson	Laurie Walker	Subaru Impreza WRC	8	0:49:39	0:00:44	0:04:26
14	4	39	Noel Redmond	David Doyle	Mitsubishi Lancer	4	0:49:57	0:00:18	0:04:44
15	1	23	Tomas O'Rourke	John O'Rourke	Vauxhall Astra Gsi	3	0:50:11	0:00:14	0:04:58
16	4	51	David Cullen	Gordon Watchorn	Peugeot 306	13	0:50:27	0:00:16	0:05:14
17	5	50	Willie Fannin	Brian Duggan	Mitsubishi Lancer	4	0:50:39	0:00:12	0:05:26
18	1	29	Enda O'Brien	John Butler	Ford Escort	11	0:50:41	0:00:02	0:05:28
19	6	18	Dean Williams	James Robertson	Mitsubishi Lancer	4	0:50:53	0:00:12	0:05:40
20	1	26	Eamonn Murphy	Noel Coady	Ford Escort	12	0:51:01	0:00:08	0:05:48
21	7	40	PJ O'Farrell	Enda Kennedy	Subaru Impreza	4	0:51:02	0:00:01	0:05:49
22	2	27	John Redmond	James Sidney	Ford Escort	12	0:51:10	0:00:08	0:05:57
23	5	92	Padraig Price	Richard Price	Ford Escort	13	0:51:31	0:00:21	0:06:18
24	6	41	Johnny Murphy	Martin Nolan	Ford Escort	13	0:51:36	0:00:05	0:06:23
25	2	46	Derek Brennan	Robby Webster	Ford Escort Mk1	11	0:51:47	0:00:11	0:06:34
26	7	61	Eugene Fitzpatrick	Mary Fitzpatrick	Ford Escort G	13	0:51:50	0:00:03	0:06:37
27	3	65	Billy Collins	Denis Foley	Ford Escort	11	0:51:53	0:00:03	0:06:40
28	1	153	Shay White	Bea White	Toyota Starlet	10	0:52:06	0:00:13	0:06:53