Bradford Bulls were today steeling themselves for a frantic ticket rush ahead of the eagerly awaited Challenge Cup final showdown with arch rivals Leeds Rhinos at Murrayfield next month.

The club's allocation of 12,500 went on sale to season ticket holders at 10am today and it seems clear demand will far outstrip supply.

The club have around 7,000 season-ticket holders and with adults being able to buy two for the final until 8pm tonight, plans to put any remaining on general sale tomorrow (10am-8pm) may have to be reviewed.

Chairman Chris Caisley said today: "I feel very sorry for some of our loyal followers because we simply will not have enough tickets for them.

"We took around 20,000 fans to Wembley in 1997 and a similar number of last season's Grand Final at Old Trafford.

"The capacity of 67,500 at Murrayfield is 11,000 less than Wembley and the allocations to us and Leeds, the two best supported teams in Super League, is simply not going to meet the huge demand for such an attractive final.

"For this match there will be a lot of occasional rugby league followers filling seats which the regular supporters of the two clubs would love to have."

Caisley does not hold out much hope of getting any extra tickets. He added: "I understand that the rugby league have got rid of their entire allocation so I cannot see us getting anymore. Leeds will be in the same boat."

In response to Bulls' achievement in reaching their third final in five years, Bradford City have put back their crucial Premiership home clash with Wimbledon by 24 hours to Sunday, April 30.

Bradford and Leeds have not met in the final of the prestigious competition since Northern, skippered by Ernest Ward, lifted the trophy at Wembley in 1947 after winning 8-4.

The clash on Saturday, April 29, is given added spice by the fact that holders Leeds beat Bulls in the semi-finals last year.

The Bulls clinched their place in the final with a fine 44-20 win over Warring-ton while Leeds beat Hull 28-22 in a match marred by crowd trouble.

Bulls were expecting to hear later today whether prop Paul Anderson has a case to answer after being put on report for an alleged high tackle on Lee Penny. The RFL will also examine a tackle on Henry Paul by Toa Kohe-Love.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.