Yorkshire restored their dignity and preserved their unbeaten record in the Championship by calmly batting out a draw against Essex at Headingley on Saturday.

Although Yorkshire failed by 68 runs to avoid the follow-on, they still reached a respectable 408 in their first innings and then inched their noses in front before declaring on 238-5 to end the match.

The result kept Yorkshire in second place in the second division and the way they stuck at their task in batting for over two days after Essex had piled up 622-8 drew praise from director of cricket David Byas.

"I though we applied ourselves very well and to bat all that time is not something we have always managed to do in the past," he said.

"Essex had a very workmanlike attack with three fast bowlers of Test experience in Darren Gough, Andre Adams and Dale Steyn, plus off-spinner, James Middlebrook, blocking an end up and we showed plenty of character."

Yorkshire were by no means out of the woods when they began the final day on 336-8, still trailing by 286 but Essex's ego soon took a bruising as Tim Bresnan and Chris Silverwood quickly built on their unbroken ninth wicket stand of 57.

Nobody suffered more than Darren Gough. Frequently smacked through extra cover by Silverwood, he exacted some revenge on his old team-mate by yorking him for 40 from 54 balls with six fours and a six.

Last man Deon Kruis was unbeaten on 26, all his runs having come from boundaries, while Bresnan was last out when he steered Steyn to third man after making a superb 70 from 127 deliveries with 11 fours.

Matthew Wood and Phil Jaques made sure Yorkshire would not falter in the second innings by giving it a 94 start, while Anthony McGrath played the anchor role with a solid 46.

Said Essex captain Ronnie Irani: "Darren Gough thought it was the blandest pitch he had ever seen at Headingley but all credit to Yorkshire."

Updated: 10:06 Monday, May 30, 2005