Yorkshiremen took Lancashire to the brink of what would have been a sensational victory in the Roses match at Headingley yesterday after the Red Rose side had been in danger of following on earlier in the day.

The game ended in stalemate when bad light stopped play with a possible 15 overs remaining but by then Yorkshire had just about got themselves out of a dreadful mess.

The dismissal of Michael Lumb at 4.30pm left Yorkshire tottering on 73 for seven with an overall lead of only 110 and if the tail had not wagged then Lancashire could have been in for the kill.

Richard Blakey and Chris Silverwood came to the rescue with an unbroken stand of 51 for the eighth wicket to snuff out Lancashire's chances but Yorkshire emerged from the match with little credit and the 11 points they took from the game did nothing to improve their position at the foot of the table. They are still searching for their first win of the season and a combination of Test calls, injuries and a general loss of confidence makes it very difficult for them to find it.

With Yorkshire needing five wins from their last seven matches to stand a chance of avoiding relegation the future looks bleak indeed.

Lancashire went into the final day on 330 for six and still requiring 36 to avoid the follow-on, a task which did not appear too difficult with Darren Gough out of the game because of further trouble with his right knee.

But after Alec Swann and Peter Martin had made comfortable progress to 347 for six, Chris Silverwood and Ryan Sidebottom struck twice in the space of four balls to give Yorkshire a real chance.

Swann mistimed a pull and Silverwood leaped to his right to take an excellent return catch one-handed.

Then Sidebottom trapped Martin lbw for 37 to increase the pressure but the Yorkshire-born ninth-wicket pair of John Wood and Gary Keedy batted with great confidence in a 120 stand in 32 overs which destroyed Yorkshire's hopes.

Yorkshire's bowling, particularly that of England all-rounder Craig White, became increasingly harmless as Keedy made his way to his maiden first class 50 and Wood went on to a career-best 64.

It needed Anthony McGrath to come on with his medium-pacers to get rid of the pair but by then Lancashire had moved on to 478 and Yorkshire's first innings lead had been whittled down to 37.

Thoughts that the game would end in a tame draw soon vanished as Lancashire were further assisted by their Yorkshire players, particularly Skipton-born Glen Chapple who had his native county staggering on 25 for three, a situation which rapidly deteriorated to 39 for five.

Matthew Wood was caught at long leg and White was turned round by Chapple and beautifully caught at first slip by David Byas.

Vic Craven chopped Chapple into his stumps before McGrath was bowled by a grubber from Wood and Richard Dawson fell lbw to Jimmy Anderson.

Darren Lehmann had delayed his arrival at the crease to see how other batsmen fared but Yorkshire were now in crisis.