DANNY Greaves believes his first season as Bradford Town manager could not have gone much better after leading the club to its best-ever league finish.

A 1-1 draw at home to Willand Rovers in Saturday’s final game saw Bradford seal third place in the Toolstation Premier Division table, with 20 wins and 68 points from their 38 fixtures.

After replacing long-serving boss Paul Shanley in the Trowbridge Road hot-seat last summer, Greaves could not be happier with how his maiden managerial campaign has unfolded.

“Over the course of the season, we have overachieved what we expected to do. Everyone at the club is delighted,” said Greaves.

“To finish in the club’s highest-ever position is a huge achievement and we’ve been really consistent, I think we’ve only lost to a side outside the top six once all season.

“It’s my first season in management after being an assistant elsewhere for a number of years, so it’s been a learning curve but I am really pleased with how it’s gone.

“I set high standards of myself and I wanted to get into the top six and felt I could build a side and implement a style of play that was capable of doing that.

“Next season I think we can go from strength to strength. Hopefully we can keep the core of the squad together as we have got some good young players who will improve.

“We are pretty clear on what we need to do over the summer, we will look to bring in one or two quality new additions but there’s no need to make wholesale changes.”

Martin Lenihan’s spectacular first-half strike saw Bradford get their noses in front against Willand and although the visitors raised their game in the second period to draw level, Town put in a solid rearguard effort to claim a share of the spoils and stay one point clear of their rivals in the final standings.

Greaves, whose side only took one of the last 12 league points available, said: “The back-end of the season has been disappointing but we have been unlucky with the way the fixtures have fallen, playing the rest of the top six pretty much back to back, and we’ve been hit by injuries and suspensions.

“On Saturday, the first half was quite even, although perhaps we just about deserved to be in front. In the second half, it was backs-to-the-wall stuff but I was really pleased with our resilience.

“We knew we needed a point to finish fifth. In previous weeks, we would have lost that game but we dug in to make sure we got the draw.”

Meanwhile, Melksham Town wrapped up a third-placed finish with a thumping 5-1 victory at home to Wells City in their final league game on Saturday.

Joe Stradling scored twice, Gary Higdon and Dan Demkiv also hit the back of the net but the highlight was a stunning strike from Sam Jordan.

Two days later, Mike Perrott got the only goal of the game as Darren Perrin’s men booked their place in next weekend’s Les Phillips Cup final with a 1-0 win away at Gillingham Town in Bank Holiday Monday’s semi-final.

Perrin said: "On Saturday it was not a great first half but in the second half, we were unbelievable and we scored the best goal I have ever seen in non-league football. Sam Jordan scored a 40-yard overhead kick, it was sensational.

"On Monday it was more of a professional performance but we got the job done and that’s all we can ask for."