GARY KEEDY stepped out of Muttiah Muralitharan's shadow to give Lancashire hopes of an unlikely Championship victory at Colwyn Bay today.

Keedy, who took five wickets in Glamorgan's first innings, added three more in as many overs to reduce the Welshmen to 59 for four after John Crawley had declared with Lancashire still 77 runs behind.

And with Chris Schofield chipping in with the crucial wicket of Matthew Maynard, his first of the match, suddenly a game which had been heading for a tame draw was fascinatingly poised.

That was partly down to Crawley's declaration immediately after Lancashire had reached 400 to claim maximum batting points - a superb recovery after they had slumped to nine for three.

They resumed yesterday still needing 71 to avoid the follow-on but did it comfortably, with Neil Fairbrother and Glen Chapple putting on 104 for the eighth wicket.

Fairbrother moved on to 158 from 199 balls with 23 fours, taking his tally for the season to 689 at an average of over 60 to earn a standing ovation from the holiday crowd when he was finally out.

And Chapple continued his best-ever season with the bat, twice lofting Glamorgan spinner Dean Cosker into Penrhyn Avenue for six in a stylish 64.

Chapple then produced a superb delivery to have Glamorgan's Aussie opener Jimmy Maher caught behind before the spinners took over.

The only worries for Lancashire came with injuries to Fairbrother and Peter Martin which make both doubtful for tomorrow's National League game at Colwyn Bay and also the Roses Match at Old Trafford which starts on Tuesday.

Fairbrother batted with Schofield as a runner after suffering a calf strain, and Martin was unable to bowl because of sore shins.

John Wood returned to the squad for the National League game, with Joe Scuderi sharing the new ball with Chapple.