BRADFORD Town are facing an anxious wait to see whether they will be playing Screwfix League football next season after an afternoon of mixed emotions at the Southbank on Saturday.

Failure to retain the Corsham Print Cup with defeat in Saturday's final was more than compensated for by the news promotion rivals Cricklade had slipped up, to hand Bradford the runners-up berth in the Premier Division and with it and possible promotion.

But with two other clubs also bidding for entry to the Screwfix League, having finished runners-up in their respective leagues, Bradford's promotion hopes are on a knife edge.

Longwell Green, Portishead and Bradford all now face a nervy wait as league officials choose two out of the three to be allowed up.

As news of Cricklade's shock 0-0 draw with lowly Marlborough filtered through to Corsham, all the disappointment of the cup final defeat disappeared as Bradford realised they had been handed a lifeline.

Manager Mark Hodkinson said: "Marlborough's secretary was keeping me updated with what was going on and I have to admit I was more bothered by that than the final.

"It was weird when it came through that Cricklade had only drawn because we were all running around and celebrating after losing the final.

"We all soon forgot about the final result as we realised we could still be going up."

Screwfix League officials are expected to make their decision next week.

Hodkinson said: "I don't know how they will decide. Everything has been carried out that they wanted us to do and I guess it depends on what needs to be done at other grounds.

"The problem we have now is we have to start talking to players about next season without knowing what league we will be in. Unless we know soon we might lose some players or not be able to attract the ones we want.

"The decision can't come soon enough as far as I am concerned because there are a few things I want to put in place if we are going up."