Thousands snap up cup tie tickets

Queen of the South have sold about 5,500 tickets for Hampden

Thousands of Queen of the South fans have snapped up tickets for their Scottish Cup semi-final with Aberdeen.

The Dumfries side face the Dons at Hampden on 12 April - the first time the Doonhamers have reached that stage of the competition in 58 years.

A club spokesman said they had sold about 5,500 tickets so far.

Aberdeen have reported a "relatively slow" response so far but expect that to pick up when general ticket sales open up on Thursday.

A spokesman for the Pittodrie club said they remained confident of taking several thousand fans to the match.

Queen of the South's ticket sales are already more than double their average home attendance this season, which stands at about 2,000 supporters.

The town itself has a population of a little over 30,000.

The Dumfries side reached the cup semi-final thanks to a 2-0 win over Dundee.

They have yet to concede a goal in this year's competition.