Queen of the South 1-2 Nordsjaelland: Wieghorst's Danes rain on Queens' parade

QUEEN OF THE SOUTH 1
O'Connor (28)
NORDSJAELLAND 2
Kibebe (2) Bernier (32)

QUEEN of the South will travel to the land of Hans-Christian Andersen with the odds heavily stacked against a happy ending being penned to their fairytale entry into European competition.

After the 150-mile round trip from Dumfries to Airdrie last night, their journey to Copenhagen for the second leg of this Uefa Cup second qualifying round tie on 26 August looks likely to be the extent of the Scottish First Division club's unlikely continental adventure.

Gordon Chisholm's team earned a standing ovation for their efforts in an entertaining first leg, but could have few real complaints about their defeat to a Nordsjaelland side with superior pace and technique.

The Queen of the South manager's only gripe would be that his team gifted the Danish club their two first-half goals, punctuated by Sean O'Connor's equaliser, punished by the kind of lapses in concentration he had warned them against.

No Scottish club has ever won a European tie after losing the first leg at home and it is difficult to conceive of that long sequence being ended in 11 days' time.

The flash floods which struck parts of the west of Scotland earlier in the day had cast some doubt over the match going ahead, but after a frantic mopping up operation the sodden surface passed Hungarian referee Mihaly Fabian's second inspection just before 7pm.

The delay in opening the turnstiles, allied to congestion on the M74, meant many Queen of the South supporters were still outside the stadium when their team suffered the severe early setback to their hopes of achieving a positive result.

Less than two minutes had elapsed when Chisholm's desire for any result which featured a clean sheet for his side went unfulfilled. The conditions played a part, Queens' veteran captain Jim Thomson slipping in the soggiest corner of the pitch as he tried to usher the ball behind for a goal-kick under pressure from Bajram Fetai, the attacking midfielder once on Rangers' books.

Thomson protested that he had not touched the ball before it went out of play, but whatever the merits of the linesman's decision to award a corner, it was woefully defended by the Queens' defence. Patrice Bernier's delivery from the left was excellent, but goalscorer Benjamin Kibebe was afforded far too much time and space to volley it beyond the helpless Bryn Halliwell from the edge of the six-yard box.

The calamitous start for the Dumfries men hinted at both stage fright on their part and, more worryingly for Chisholm, a gulf in class between them and their opponents which carried the potential for embarrassment. Although Steve Tosh needed to make a terrific saving tackle inside the penalty area to deny Morten Karlsen a glorious opportunity to double Nordsjaelland's lead in their next attack, however, there were gradually some signs of encouragement for the vocal 'home' support that this was anything but a mismatch.

Prompted by some positive and intelligent play from the lively Paul Burns, Queens managed to force the Danes onto the back foot and one terrific run from the young midfielder saw him link up neatly in the penalty area with O'Connor, only for the ball to slide agonisingly out of reach as he attempted to latch onto the return pass.

As they suddenly enjoyed some territorial dominance, Queens were fortunate not to fall further behind when Nordsjaelland launched a rapid counter attack. Craig Reid's decision to try and keep the ball in play in a difficult position, instead of simply conceding a throw-in on the halfway line, backfired as he conceded possession to Soren Christensen who picked out Stephan Petersen with a crossfield pass.

Petersen was left with a free run on goal but there was relief for Queens when his powerful shot from just inside the penalty area rebounded from the beaten Halliwell's crossbar to safety. It appeared as if it might prove a positive turning point for Chisholm's men as, to the unbridled glee of their noisy supporters, they equalised in the 28th minute. It was O'Connor who took the honour of scoring his club's first European goal, rising splendidly to head home Jamie McQuilken's precisely delivered free-kick from the left after a fine run from Gary Arbuckle had been illegally halted.

O'Connor's finish was emphatic, but the ease with which he beat the Nordsjaelland defence was evidence of a serious weakness in that department of Morten Wieghorst's side which Queens could hope to exploit further. Yet before they got the opportunity they were undone by some sloppy defending of their own as Nordsjaelland regained the lead just four minutes later. Simon Richter picked out Bernier on the left and the Canadian international eluded the attention of three home players all too easily before slipping a low shot beyond Halliwell.

O'Connor should have restored parity for Queens before half-time, but this time the big striker appeared almost unnerved by the simplicity of the chance which came his way from another McQuilken free-kick and directed his free header wide of the left hand post.

Chisholm made a change in both team shape and personnel at the start of the second half, sending on Stephen Dobbie to join O'Connor and Stewart Kean in a three-pronged attack. Midfielder Arbuckle was the player sacrificed, although that was no reflection on his earnest shift in the opening 45 minutes.

The switch succeeded in making Queens more of a sustained presence in the Nordsjaelland half but they generally lacked the poise and composure to make their pressure count. O'Connor almost equalised for the second time after fine play from Burns and Dobbie had set up the chance, but he was crowded out at the near post and had to settle for a corner.

• St Patrick's produced a rousing comeback to earn an impressive 2-2 draw in the away leg of their Uefa Cup qualifier against IF Elfsborg last night.

The Swedes, who dumped out Hibernian 4-0 on aggregate in the Intertoto Cup last month, established a two-goal lead inside the opening half hour but St Pat's refused to accept defeat and goals in the second half from Mark Quigley and Gary Dempsey secured a share of the spoils for the visitors.