Patrice Bernier (left) congratulates team-mate Benjamin Kibebe |
Queen of the South's European debut ended in defeat as Danish side Nordsjaelland ran out winners on a wet night at Airdrie's Broomfield stadium.
Benjamin Kibebe's volley opened the scoring inside two minutes, then Sean O'Connor's 28th-minute header cancelled out the lead and gave Queens some hope.
But Patrice Bernier's tap-in gave the Danes victory in the 32nd minute.
The Doonhamers now face an uphill struggle when the teams meet up in Denmark again in two weeks.
The miserable weather played a huge part in proceedings as Gordon Chisholm's side conceded an away goal inside two minutes.
Thomson slid as he tried to guide the ball out for a goal-kick, but only succeed in knocking it out.
Bernier delivered the corner to the near post and the unmarked Kibebe sent a volley high into the net to give the Danes a vital early lead.
The home side were dicing with danger when former Rangers striker Bajam Fetai cut the ball back for Morten Karlsen on the edge of the box and looked clear on goal, but Steve Tosh managed to sweep the ball wide.
With 15 minutes played Paul Burns tried to lift the Doonhamer's spirits with a promising run into the penalty area, but found opposition in the shape of his team-mate Stewart Kean and the move dried up.
Nordsjaelland were unlucky not to extend their lead less than 60 seconds later when a Soren Christiansen pass found Stephan Petersen who struck the bar with a furious shot from 18 yards.
Gary Arbuckle was clattered by Nordsjaelland's Patrice Bernier | Queens' first chance of the match gave their fans a much-needed boost in the 28th minute when O'Connor guided in a powerful header in the 28th minute after McQuilken sent in a free-kick from the left to put the scores level.
The revival was short-lived as Simon Richter slotted in a cute ball for Bernier who then left the Queen of the South defence standing and slid a simple ball under Bryn Halliwell to make it two for the Danish visitors.
As half-time approached O'Connor sent a header across the face of the Nordsjaelland goal, but the equaliser remained elusive.
Queens rang in the changes at half-time with Chisholm bringing on last season's top scorer Stephen Dobbie for Gary Arbuckle.
Two minutes into the second half Burns crossed in and Kean volleyed into the hands of Jesper Hansen.
The hosts continued to push forward until the dying minutes of the game and Craig Barr was unfortunate to see a header deflected wide following Stevie Tosh's corner.
A 25-yard strike from Tosh dipped over the bar and Burns set up Dobbie on goal but his volley lacked power.
Nordsjaelland continued to pose a threat and Fetai almost carved out a third with two inswinging free-kicks that drifted just wide.
Queens' second-half performance didn't produce the outcome it deserved and the First Division side will now need to pull off a memorable performance in Denmark to overturn the away goal deficit.
Queen of South: Halliwell, Reid (Harris 78), McQuilken, MacFarlane (Adams 70), Barr, Thomson, Kean, Tosh, O'Connor, Arbuckle (Dobbie 46), Burns. Subs Not Used: Bell, Robertson, McGowan, Aitken.
Booked: Reid, O'Connor.
Goals: O'Connor 28.
FC Nordsjaelland: Hansen, Kebebe, Kildentoft, Lundberg, Bernier, Karlsen, Bernburg (Dahl 81), Fetai, Christensen (Nakajima-Farran 65), Petersen (Pode 72), Jonathan Richter. Subs Not Used: Rasmussen, Cagara, Nielsen, Pedersen.
Booked: Fetai, Bernburg.
Goals: Kebebe 2, Bernier 32.
Att: 4,406
Ref: Mihaly Fabian (Hungary).
| 
