Yorkshire shrugged off their disappointment at missing out on the championship by showing great determination to stay in command of their battle for the runners-up spot with Middlesex.

Durham’s coronation as the new champions filtered through to Headingley before the rain had ceased and Yorkshire were able to build on their 86-run overnight lead when they resumed on four without loss early in the afternoon.

They could have been forgiven for letting their heads drop as celebrations began at Chester-le-Street and, needing to avoid defeat in this match to prevent Middlesex claiming the £235,000 prize money for finishing second, they made a shaky start by losing four wickets inside the first 13 overs.

But led by captain Andrew Gale, Yorkshire recovered from 50-4 to reach 130-5, leading by 212 runs, when bad light ended play 11 overs early and showed their determination not to let their season fizzle out disappointingly.

“We’re not in a position to win the championship this year, but already there is talk about how we can improve next year and that’s been driven by the players, which is a very healthy environment,” said Jason Gillespie, Yorkshire’s head coach.

Yorkshire’s hold on second place looked uncertain once play finally started with Adam Lyth falling lbw to the fourth ball of the day from Corey Collymore, the former West Indies seamer, while Kane Williamson was bowled by a swinging delivery from Tim Murtagh in the next over.

Phil Jaques was unfortunate to fall for a defiant 21 when he top-edged Murtagh and Dawid Malan took an outstanding catch, running back from first slip to take the ball from over his shoulder, and Jonny Bairstow fell in quick succession when he was bowled by a Collymore inswinger.

It left Yorkshire just 132 runs ahead with four wickets down when Gale was joined at the crease by Ballance in murky conditions and the ball swinging for Middlesex’s impressive seam bowlers.

But Gale responded with a determined 40, passing 1,000 championship runs in a season after he reached 15 – a statistic that marks a remarkable turnaround for a player that thought about dropping himself for poor form at the start of the summer.

Gale played a supportive role in a 79-run stand with Gary Ballance, who was dropped at second slip on 12, but recovered to hit an unbeaten 53 from 59 balls. Gale was not so fortunate, falling lbw to Collymore the over before bad light halted play.