Captain Andrew Gale praised his Yorkshire side despite falling to a third LV= County Championship defeat of the season against leaders Lancashire at Liverpool on Saturday.

Gale’s men failed to defend a target of 121 from the last 15 overs as the Red Rose won a thriller by six wickets with four balls to spare.

Left-arm spinner Gary Keedy took six wickets to bowl the White Rose out for 308 in their second innings before Sri Lankan Farveez Maharoof hit 31 not out off 19 balls in a hectic chase.

Gale said: “You’re always going to be up against it when you’re bowled out for 141 on the first day. But I said to the lads that after the first two sessions, to take it to the last over is a really good effort.

“I’m not one for making excuses – but, when you’re missing six first-team players, to fight like that, I’m proud of them.”

The captain’s only gripe was Yorkshire’s naivety in the field, allowing Lancashire’s batsmen to turn ones into twos and twos into threes far too regularly.

Gale continued: “They played well to knock them off, but I thought we showed a little bit of inexperience in the field.

“With the ball, a few of the lads missed their margins. We’ve got a bit to learn there. It was almost a rabbit in the headlights situation.”

Joe Sayers and Gale shared 115 inside 43 overs for the third wicket, spanning both days three and four, and they were both subjected to a volley of verbals from England pace bowler Jimmy Anderson.

Gary Ballance and Adil Rashid then added 88 in 28 overs for the fifth wicket on a slow pitch.

Sayers batted for four and three quarter hours for his 75, Gale hit 60, Ballance (57) – a maiden Championship half-century – and Rashid 52.

But they lost five wickets for 23 runs to fall from safety before tea at 278-4 to choppy waters after the break at 301-9.

Keedy took three wickets for one run in seven balls after tea as seven of the eight Yorkshire wickets to fall on Saturday went to spin.

Last pair Steve Patterson and Oliver Hannon-Dalby then batted for 14.2 overs to frustrate the hosts. But it was just not long enough.

Meanwhile, the White Rose at least managed to finish their weekend on a high with a thumping seven-wicket Clydesdale Bank 40 win over Worcestershire at New Road yesterday.

Patterson took 4-28 from eight overs to restrict the hosts to 155-9, with Hannon-Dalby and Rashid picking up two apiece.

Gale then anchored the reply with 56 off 89 balls, sharing stands of 57 with Ballance for the first wicket and 73 with Adam Lyth (49) for the second. Yorkshire won with 21 balls remaining.

Yorkshire, boosted by the return of Jonny Bairstow, Ajmal Shahzad and Anthony McGrath, face Somerset at Taunton in the Championship tomorrow.