Lancashire had to work hard for their runs in the first session on day two with the Durham attack making it difficult to score too freely.
The bowlers had to work had for their wickets all day and in the first session it was only Graham Onions who made the only breakthrough of the morning claiming the wicket of Steven Moore who was caught by Scott Borthwick at extra cover for 14.
By lunch Lancashire had just equalled the Durham first innings score having only lost one wicket in the opening session.
Despite an increasingly flat track Durham made inroads in the second session of the day reducing the hosts to 206-5 at tea.
Paul Horton went on to reach 50 in the 25th over, which included eight boundaries, off 74 balls and he added a further 14 runs to his score before he was trapped lbw by Thorp with Lancashire 112-2.
Karl Brown was trapped lbw by Ian Blackwell for 37 in the 41st over with the total at 136-3.
Lancashire were 175-5 after Stephen Harmison claimed two wickets within four overs, that of Mark Chilton, trapped lbw for 23, and Steven Croft, caught by Callum Thorp, for 26.
Graham Onions then took his tally to three wickets in the innings bowling Gareth Cross and Sajid Mahmood for eight runs apiece.
Scott Borthwick got in on the action with 18 overs left in the day, when he had Kyle Hogg caught at short leg by Will Smith for 15 with the hosts leading by 147.
Luke Procter reached his fifty before Callum Thorp removed his middle stump in the second over with the new ball. Junaid Khan was bowled the following over by Onions for 16 as Lancashire post 282.
Lancashire posted a lead of 180 for Durham to chase down with two days to go.
Durham lost Michael Di Venuto, was trapped lbw by Kyle Hogg for 7, in the third over with the total at 11 amd the same bowler struck in the 7th over when Muchall (8) fell to the same fate.
Durham were 24-3 after nightwatchman Graham Onions chipped a Mahmood delivery to Croft at third slip wiith just under three overs remaining.
At the close of play Durham were 27-3, requiring 154 runs on day three to claim the win.
Durhamccc.co.uk spoke to Graham Onions, who picked up four vital wickets in the second innings,
“When you watch and see so many wickets fall the previous day you do feel under pressure to bowl them out for as little again but today batting looked a bit easier, it looked as if the wicket had dried out a bit and we had to work hard. Horton and Moore are two very good players and they played quite nicely, Horton’s dismissal was a bit of a cheap one but we built some pressure and that’s all you can do as a fast bowler, hang in there, and we were lucky enough to get that wicket.
“We’d like to think that we wouldn’t need the tail-enders tomorrow, we’ve got Will Smith and Paul Collingwood in the middle now, who are both very good players and Benkenstein, Blackwell, Mustard, Borthwick and Thorp all to come. Even if we lost a few wickets in the morning we’ve got a strong opportunity of chasing down this total.
“At the minute we need another 154 and we need to hang on and do a good job, it shouldn’t be too tricky but Lancashire are a good side and they’re not second in the table for nothing. We’ve got to make sure we do all the right things and we’re quietly confident.
“It’s important that we dig deep in that first session tomorrow. You’re not going to bowl a side out for 84 twice, to do it once was a great effort, Callum Thorp bowled brilliantly backed up by everyone else. I think today Ian Blackwell and Stephen Harmison bowled well and tied them down a bit when it looked like they could’ve got on top of us. To get those last few wickets was a real effort.
“It was a shame to lose those three wickets, but as far as I’m concerned we need to have an early night, re-group and have a chat in the morning and whoever is out there needs to take responsibility to win the game”.