(781)  UPS AND DOWNS OF FOOTBALL IN DUMFRIES-SHIRE

Despite administration and the prospect of going definitively out of business altogether once the season ends, Gretna FC continue to fulfil their Scottish Premier League fixtures and to plough along at the foot of the table pending now inevitable relegation (see previously Nos 746 and 772).  Ironically, nearest footballing neighbours, First Division Queen of the South from Dumfries (the Doonhamers), reached the Scottish Cup Final on 12 April 2008 with a thrilling 4-3 win over Premier League Aberdeen at Hampden Park, Glasgow.  Queens will return to the same venue on 24 May to play Rangers for the Cup, just two years since Gretna, then in the First Division, took Hearts to a penalty shoot-out in the 2006 final and only just lost.