A very enjoyable game of football to watch when everyone finally got in to watch it. Traffic chasos in and around Airdrie resulted in about half the crowd missing the first goal. A ball that would have gone out for a by kick held up in water and somehow a corner was awarded by the linesman when JT nad forward tangled. A badily defended corner gave the No 2 the freedom of the front 6 yard box to belt home a goal.

When Queens upped the tempo they worried Nordsjaelland and O'conner was a handful. All to often not well supported although Tosh and Arkbuckle did try to link up. McFarlane seemed to break up a lot in midfield as he always does and Burns was the most creative player.

Not sure why Chis changed back 4 so much. JT played byside Barr (have they ever played together before) with Reid at right back. McQuilton was given the run around all night by slick passing of balls into the channels. He didn't seem to know if the ball or the runner was coming inside or outside.

Just before our goal we did have a couple of chances with headers from set pieces until O'corner met a cross at the back post. The Aberdeen sympton came again in that we defended a another bad goal and could not hold the lead. Reid should have knock ball out for another throw in but didn't and slick passing allowed the striker a clean shot at Halliwell.

Dobbie came on at half time and linked up well with Burns. One cross shot just missed O'conners head where a touch would have resulted in a goal and another shot almost sneaked in at the near post. Tosh had a shot from 25 yards that dipped too late. The last 5 mins could of got the draw we maybe deserved with several half chances but ball did not seem to fall.

Nordsjaelland were a well organised team. The midfield forwards were willing runners alnight and movement on and off the ball amasing. They cracked the bar in the first half at 1-0 and had a one on one in second half when they looked like scoring. They will be forbidable on thier own ground. Don't think the pitch helped there style of play.

A few dodgy booking but refs are always stronger in Europe, o'conner for talking back and McFarlane for constant fouling. At least ref was consist and booked two Nordsjaelland players.

A disappointing start to the match in losing early goal, came back strong to equalise before losing a quick second goal. A goal at end would have made the difference to the return in Copenhagen and give us a glimmer of hope

Excellent report, queenslad.

McFarlane was my Mom also.

edited to keep typo in!!!!!!

I have never seen the inside of Neil McFarlane's womb- (AFAIK!!)

That sounds really painfull. Was he alright?

The first incident happened about 10 yards in front of us , as we were sitting in that stand at that corner. It was NOT a corner. Thompson did not touch the ball until it had gone out of play, and even then he only touched it because he slipped on his arse and slid across the line. Having said that, QOS should have defended the corner a lot better.

As a neutral I quite enjoyed the game. I thought the Danes were the better team, technically, and some of the runs their front men were making, were first class. QOS seemed to get caught out with the ball over the top a few times.

From a QOS point of view, your number 11 ( Burns?) I was very impressed with. He gave the Danish full back a tricky evening. He also put some nice balls into the box, one of which was only missed by O'Connor by a bawhair. He was ably backed up by the number 2. I felt McQuilken was maybe not 100%. He seemed to pull up after his free kick attempt in the first half, which resulted in the Danes breaking away and hitting the bar. MacFarlane as always gave more than the required 100% and must have been knackered when he went off. I thought the central defensive partnership of Barr and Thompson seemed to lose each other quite often resulting in a fair bit of space being opened up in the middle of the park.

I think Queens will find it very difficult in Denmark, as I don't think that danish team were operating at 100% tonight. But, with a bit of grit and determination, which we know your team have in abundance, then anything is possible. However, i wouldnt recommend the "punt and rush" tactic which seemed to take over your game in the last 20 minutes tonight.....I think the Danes will just pick you off if you try that.

All the best to you, and enjoy your adventure. I certainly enjoyed seeing Euro football at my stadium, and just wish that my team could emulate yours, and qualify.

Thought Burnsy had a great game and deserved MOM for us. Two very slack goals to give away, however after giving away such a soft goal so early on I thought we fought back well and deserved our equaliser. Would agree that Nordsjaelland looked dangerous on the break, however they didn't look too clever at the back and had we had a few more decent deliveries in to the box I think we could have caused them more problems. Thought McQuilkens free kicks caused all sorts of problems for them.

Dobbie and O'Connor caused problems in the second half. Why Chisholm can't start with this combination I can't understand. Before the game I would have settled for a draw, however we are still in this game and its still all to play for.

Lets get up and at them right from the start in the second leg. An early goal and we could have them rattled.

did anyone see that danish guy lash out at mcquilken second half. granted it was at the opposite side from me but from my angle it looked like he hit him in the face

There's a surprise, it was always going to happen and a couple of Airdrie fans did try and warn everyone.

At least the tie is still alive going to Denmark. Thought the Danes were technically very good and pacey - probably exactly the sort of team we wouldn't like to come up against (though I doubt the sort of team that would suit us exists in the UEFA cup). Undoubtedly they were happy with what they got and weren't going for it for the full 90mins. To me they looked technically better than most of the SPL teams but perhaps a bit lightweight - Chis's assertion that they were equivalent to a mid-table SPL side about right.

We defended badly but their pace from front to back really dragged us all over the shop. First goal was just woeful defending though - guy side-foots it in, inside the 6yd box. I'm not convinced with the 4-5-1 formation, for me stick Dobbie in for Kean and go 4-4-2. McFarlane and Burns probably my men of the match.

Refereee was at least consistent - though he didn't like people jumping for headers, lose out and you were almost guaranteed to get a foul!

Bring on Copenhagen!!!

Beaten, but not disgraced. there can be no doubting the superior technical and physical ability of some of the nordsjaelland players, especially upfront where i thought no's 9 and 15 were a real handful. I agree with what mucky said, they are vulnerable at the back and on another night we could easily have scored more than 1 goal.

One thing is clear though, we need to score 2 goals in the away leg and therefore DOBBIE MUST PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not downheartened at all after last night, after the opening 5 minutes I feared a cricket score, but Queens had the better play in the first half, deserved their goal and possibly a bit more. From where I was sitting it did look like Big JT made a hash of the "corner" and the boy was given a free header from the resulting cross ball. Sean took his goal well, and another mistake and Nordsjaelland scored again.

Was a bit of a strange formation with Reid playing right back, Barr in the centre, but Barr played a good game I thought. I would have hooked Tosh and left MacFarlane on. With 5 flooding the midfield there really should have been more threat down the flanks, Dobbs did sting a cross which Sean just missed, which is where the pressure should come from in the 2nd leg, not the hopeful long ball to Sean, the run down the wing and then a pacey cross into the danger area.

I think that are best performers on the night were Craig Barr, Neil MacFarlane, Paul Burns, Sean O'Connor and Stephen Dobbie. How Tosh got sponsors MOM I don't know

Did you hear the boos when the announcer said that Tosh had got sponsors MoM? I guess that Mr. Tosh Senior sponsored the game.

I agree that the Dobster has to start in Denmark and the tie is not over yet. Good night out, never thought I would sit and watch Queens play in Europe and score in Europe.

Thought that they were technically far superior to Queens, especially the number 11 i think it was that came on. His take down on the chest with about 5 minutes to go was nothing short of sublime.

Tie is defo not over yet though, all they need is an early goal over there and it's game on!!

Have to agree with most other posters on here, we were beaten but not disgraced by a better team. With only one goal in it the tie is certainly not dead, but Im a bit worried that we wont stop them scoring in the second leg.

I thought it was a good game too, fair play to the Danes they came to play football with none of the spoiling tactics or theatrics we might have seen from other european teams. Thought the ref had a good game too, bit picky, but fair to both sides. Although, Reid and O'Connors bookings were both harsh, IMO.

Interesting to hear Billy Dodds on the radio before and after the game. Before, he was saying that swapping Barr and Reid was a tactical decision for tonights game. He also said that Burns and Tosh would be getting around their number 8, so one of them was at fault for the goal as no-one tracked him from midfield. After he said that Chisholm knows the problems they have defensively, mainly lack of pace, reading between the lines.

Really dissapointed with the first goal, never a corner, but poor poor marking. Also dissapointed we couldnt get the draw which I think we deserved.

I think we'll score in the away leg, but Im not sure we'll score enough.

Not a whole lot to add to the comments already made really. As a knock on effect of people due to collect tickets arriving late I was 10 minutes late in getting in myself so I missed the first goal and can't really comment on it (I've seen it on Sky since though). Indeed I'd been in my seat for five minutes before something was said and the lady in front leaned back and said "It's not 0-0, we're 1-0 down!" I hadn't even realised.

The Danes looked superior to us technically and also generally quicker but they weren't that brilliant and considering they have big players they looked ropey every set-piece. Apart from the goal O'Connor and Thomson could have scored again first half and Kean, O'Connor and Dobbie all had chances in the second half (as well as Kean seeming to kick one goalbound effort from us OFF the line!).

I'm fairly optimistic we can score over there although the two away goals mean we'll need to get at least two. It's a long shot but the tie isn't quite dead yet.

Thought the ref was a bit card happy and gave fouls that would never have been so in Scottish domestic games (including it should be admitted the one from which we equalised). Our bookings were harsh (particularly O'Connor's). There was only one bad challenge in the match, the one from which their No 15 got booked.

I see that the goals are now available on BBC Online. I hope someone copies them onto YouTube so that us 'foreigners' can view them

Hey, SD, I was looking for one of your detailed match reports from last night. Were you "on duty"?

All I could find was a skimpy effort on the OS - before it crashed - by Jamie Rutherford. OK but not very detailed - A Daily Ranger paragraph at best.

It was a "home" game. I don't do the home ones.

Colin Johnstone was doing the match report for last night but obviously hasn't had time to do it yet. I can't possibly do home match reports as I rarely see kick off and with last nights "issues" I didn't see the whole of the first ten minutes and indeed the opening goal.

I'll be doing the report for the away leg, though it remains to be seen whether that will be done on the night or once I get home. I'm not taking my laptop over but there's a possibility I'll be able to use one there.

I forgot to add my highlight of the night - spotting a fat guy wearing the new Partick away kit

OK you are excused this time. I just thought between directing traffic,mopping the pitch and handing out tickets, you could have got a report filed as well.

Opening goal. Corner given wrongly by linesman on far touchline. Good movement by them; no marking by us; Halliwell indecisive - that is all.

Pretty much as has been said, for me MOM was O'Connor. I thought Barr looked pretty poor in the middle, as did Reid at right back. Dobbie needs to be starting though, it may be harsh on Kean, but Dobbie is just a different class to him, imo.

Goals

Very poor defending from Queens for both the goals but the video is only 30 seconds long so we don't get to see the "highlights"

There's a fuller match report there now.

Not the worst effort, but thought the two goals could easily have been prevented. Not a fan of this changing Barr and Reid, fair enough there saying its tactical but when was the last time Barr played at centre half? He just didn't look sharp enough. Not really into this trying to accomodate 3 strikers Kean is lost on the right wing, play your best players and that is Dobbie and O'Conner up tops together.

Less said about "Geri" the better.

C'mon people, can someone no get those goals onto YouTube?!?

For Gretna.

I actually thought Barr did pretty well, certainly second half. The sole reason we're still in this tie at all is down to two magnificent pieces of defending late on from Barr as they broke away. One tremendous challenge from behind when he chased down a breaking forward and took ball, man, and for good measure JT as well!

Reid had a poor game though. It's odd, he stood out as our best defender in pre-season but hasn't done all that well in the real stuff so far. Neither have Aitken or Thomson in fact. Centre of defence in looking a weakness at the moment and I expect that's why Barr was played there (a position he often filled for Gretna). Harris being back will help, though McQuilken would be unlucky to drop out as he's been our best defender this season to date.

I thougt Barr did ok there too, but I wouldnt be overly confident with him and JT as our regular central partnership. Especially as he's the best right back we've got!

I havent quite got the Reid thing yet. Not really sure why he was MOM against Airdrie and cant see what he brings to the side that Aitken doesnt. As it stands, I'd go back to Aitken and JT for no other reason than they're the most established partnership we've got - after Sunday obviously.

I'd also have Harris back in for McQuilken, harsh or not.

I have stolen this post by rjc_1988 on Footymad (not me, incidentally). I agree with every word of this and it saves me typing it out. I'd also add that our defenders at corners had clearly been told to stand off their runners, instead of marking them. So, they marked space instead. And continued to mark space while the ball was in the net.

Chisholm demonstrated that he will never be a manager at a level higher than first division and IMO, he shouldn't even be that. It was like watching Scotland under Berti Vogts. A team handicapped by a clueless manager. And the reason we don't have decent centre backs is because the master tactician hasn't signed any. I think more and more people are coming round to my view of JT. Finally.

The explanation given by Billy Dodds for switching the defence about was utter mince.

Posted by rjc_1988 on 14 Aug 2008 23:32

Baffling tactics........again!!!!! ...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On a really memorable occasion for the club I was bitterly disappointed with the Manager's tactics.

Frankly the decisions made were all over the place.

Why did he switch Reid and Barr. Barr is an excellent right back but he was lost at centre back tonight. In a game of such importance why would you play an untried partnership (JT and Barr). They were all at sea tonight as a partnership . They played far too far up the park and were caught square time and again.Could easily have lost 2/3 more goals.

Reid tried hard as always but Barr is much better coming forward from the right back area.

Deployment of 5 man midfield with Kean playing wide right??????I cant believe that Stewart Kean stayed on the pitch tonight. He was anonymous in the first half and I cant understand why Arbuckle was withdrawn at half time to accommodate Kean wide left.

When we finished the game we had half our team playing out of position in my view :-

- Barr
- Harris came on at right back??? His right foot is for standing on!
- Dobbie in a wide right role?
-Kean in left midfield


I thought the tactics were reminescent of early part of last season.If I was Stephen Dobbie I would be seriously upset at being dropped in favour of Kean. Remmeber Dobbie was instrumental in getting us to the UEFA cup in the first place .....what has he done wrong other than score goals. As I have said previously Stewart Kean may prove to be a good signing but he was a passenger tonight and to take off Arbuckle who had some very promising touches in the first half was very surprising. If Arbuckle was injured I stand corrected.

The players gave their all tonight and I thought they did well against a decent side who were a bit better than us but not dramatically better.

I thought Paul Burns had a great game tonight.

I hope that I'm wrong but I see a lot of similarity to last season...........players playing totally out of position = bad results.

Forgot to say earlier on, Bryn Halliwell is fucking shite.

Present your case. If you criticise him for any of the goals you are having a laugh, and tbh he had little cover all night, he has also kept QoS in the tie after saving that 1-on-1 with the nordsjaelland player.

His kicking and decision making was bad, we need to get jamie signed from hearts.

Think he pulled up after the run which led to a corner but should've probably been a free-kick on the edge of the box.
That was just before half-time.

He had 2 saves likes that, one in the first half which he tipped onto the bar, and the other in the second half diving to his right at the bottom corner. His kicking is a bit dodgy, that's really all



Yeah I spotted that as well, he did take a knock there

aye its really frustrating seeing chisholm dropping dobbie and i bet every other fan in this league cant quite believe it when they look at the teamsheet and see dobbies name on the bench. Lets also get another couple of left sided players signed up to give the sqaud more balance.

Chisholm got his tactics wrong, last season we played 4-4-2 and were successful, this season we are accomodating for having 3 class strikers, dobbie and o connor must start up front no doubt! why he changed the defence is truely beyond me, craig bar looked suspect at centre half but he didnt do too badly, then craig reid went off to be replaced by bob harris at right back?????? why couldnt he switch barr to right back and put aitken on?? In my opinion jim thomson should of retired on a high after scoring against rangers in the SC final, he looks like hes still on his honey moon the way he strolls about the park now. it was his fault for the first goal he showed lack of experience by not thumping the ball out for a throwing, everyone could see that side of the pitch was heavily waterlogged the ball was always going to hold up there so wh he was tryin to sheild the ball out i do not know we could argue that the ball was already out all day but the facts are the ball held up jimmy saw that therefore he should of thumped it out for a throw, saying that the defending was bad for the corner and halliwell shouted and then hesitated.


steve tosh was hopeless last night he thinks he has the pace of a 100metre sprinter when he tries to knock the ball past players, but i think chisholms decision to take mcfarlane off for adams was spot on, adams and mcfarlane are defensive mids, tosh is far more a threat to goal than mcfarlane and adams is also a player that can get into the box provide a goal threat then retreat and get back. we had to be seen to be going for the draw and had the score been 2-2 then tosh would of came off no doubt!

The danes were clever tonight they knew what they were doing, they came to score an away goal and not conceed or take risks. they scored a goal then sat in and defended, the conceeded a goal then came straight back out and scored, they could of done that all night in my opinion they had at least another 2 gears to step up to and were very clever to come and probably do enough to win the tie. anything can happen in football and i could be proved wrong.

A 2-1 home defeat in Europe is nothing to shout about, however it was a decent and reasonably open match, that despite the score, I think there are positives to be taken from the match . The Danes are a decent side, but I also think we are capable of going there and getting a result. Without doubt they had the better of the chances and too be honest, good clear cut chances, at least three one on ones and fecked them all. I would have put money on O'Connor, Dobbie or Kean scoring at least one of them in a similar situation.

That said, we had a few chances of our own, perhaps less clear cut than the Danes, but chances nevertheless and I do think that if we have the same amount of posession we will go there and score. There were some good performances last night and for me it is between Burns & O'Connor for our man of the match, although honourable mentions to Tosh & McFarlane as well.

I don't think I was expecting it to be as open last night and for us to have as much posession as we did. However the secong leg there is still all to play for and perhaps this slim 2-1 advantage might pose a bit of a dilemia for the Danes. Do they just play the game out and try and keep it tight or do they they go out and try and get another goal, leaving them vulnerable to the counter attack?

There is still much to play for. Copenhagen here we come.

Oh, it was also good to see our former manager, John Connolly there last night. His efforts were instrumental in the progression the club has shown on the park in the last eight years. I also spotted Alex Rae, Gerry Britton and Andy Todd (Former Pars striker and Gretna coach) taking in the game.

Also well done to 'Sizzlers'. A great fish supper and cold bottle of Perroni from the licensed chippy.

Is it not about time you cut down on the fish suppers stout chap Never say you last night. Was with Wally and co....See you in Denmark

Andy Smith

David Farrell was with Alex Rae. Also, Jim Duffy, Scott Leitch, Gus McPherson, Andy Millen, Billy McLaren, Mike Jackson, Chopper Dickson were there in the "football" section.

Jamie MacDonald (and his parents), John Stewart and Robbie Neilson all also came along and great to see them it was. Brilliant that former loan players who have enjoyed their time with us and played large parts in getting us to this stage wanted to be there.

Derek Lyle was watching from the East Stand as well. The chap seated behind explained to me the alleged reason for the amazing glass table incident before last season's quarter final with the Dee.
OOerrr, missus!

A bottle of peroni! You lucky dog! I wasn't prepared to pay £40 admission to the bar in the main stand, so missed out on a light pre-match ale.

Our old gaffer JC also a face in the crowd!

Simon Mensing and Mark Gilhaney were sitting in front of me. WOW!

I was in the main stand, I spoke with Leany at half time.

I will of course share a few beers with you in Copenhagen mate, but can you confirm or deny the rumour that you have asked for a room with a tv and DVD recorder, so you can catch up some of your favourite Danish cinema, whilst you are there?



Of course, Andy Smith.

Good to hear our former loanees were there last night. They done us proud in their time.



That sounds like 'niche market' activity.

Yeah, when I turned up I was advised the bar was something like that. However, the guy that was manning it said to go to Sizzlers and a fair few Queens fans were there as well. it essentially is a chippy but you could sit in and have a beer as well, so that was not too bad.

As you said to me, it appeard as if John was taking the team last night with the bizzare tatical and personell decisions.

Cowboy McCormack was in the East Stand last night as well.

And.......£40 for the bar??? WTF??!!??

It was primarily for "corporate hospitality"; so it was an entry fee, I suppose. Maybe the prawn sandwiches were free.

It was £40 for a hospitality ticket which gave you a seat directly underneath the directors seats, access to the pay bar pre match and tea, coffee and snacks at half time.

Those seats were ALL pre-sold before last night. Nobody should have been getting offered entry to the bar on the night for £40 if that's what's being suggested.

The bar was in effect closed to the public.

Fairly disapointed by the result but also slightly relieved we're not completely out of it for the 2nd leg.

Not impressed by chisolm set up for the team. I don't understand what people see in reid. For me he is a headless chicken that will whole heartadly chase the ball to win it but he needs to realize that sometimes he really shouldn't do that. Andy Kirks second goal last weekend is the perfect example of this when he dived in, got skint and kirk lashed in a great but also unchallenged strike. He is far too raw and to play him is weakening the team in my view. Especially seeing as his distribution is nowhere good enough to be playing right back.

Can't be bothered posting all my other thoughts just now but one thing that is annoying me is the lack of understanding from people regarding harris coming on at right back. It was obvoius that when reid was coming down the right late on in the game that the danish defenders were happy to force him onto his left and punt a useless cross into the box if it even made it that far. Reid can't even kick the ball with his right, never mind his standing foot. I, for once, agreed with chisolm when he brought on boaby. Seemed to me that the idea was to get harris in the same positions but with the result being a much more potent and accurate cross from a genuine left footed player. Also thought it almost paid off on a couple of occasions.


Anyway, to sum up, dobbie must play, kean can't play left mid, tosh is more laid back than a dundonian teenage girl and reid shouldn't play................football!

Er, that was Andy Aitken, not Reid.

Well I'm actually surprised by how upbeat most observors remain.

For me, it was a hugely disappointing evening for a variety of reasons.
Obviously, nobody can be blamed for the weather, but it certainly detracted from my sense of anticipation to spend the journey up, glued to the radio waiting to hear whether or not we'd have a game to watch. The trip also took two and a half hours due to an accident near Hamilton and I think it's therefore unfair to blame late arrivals on a lack of foresight.
I was actually one of the (un)lucky ones who made it on time and it was a shame that the crowd was still so sparse when the players emerged at what should have been a very proud and significant moment for all Queens fans. To then go behind within moments made sure that this was about as unsatisfactory a beginning to any match - let alone such a big one - as I can remember.

As for the rest, we worked hard against a team which was better than ours but not hugely so. I am however, totally pissed off by the team Chisholm sent out. I heard Billy Dodds' explanation as well but that doesn't make it convincing or the team, sensible.
Why muck about with the back four against good opposition? Why drop the one guy every team in our league wishes they had? Chisholm, like many managers feels the need to make 'clever' changes due to things he's spotted on spying missions, but the case for playing our players in their best positions is surely best made by the second half we had to last season. It's reminiscent of Walter Smith not playing Kris Boyd simply because he knows best.

All in all, for such a huge occasion, it was all a bit of a let down.

I still wish I could manage the Copenhagen trip and I'm sure everyone will enjoy themselves, but I can't see us doing it. We defend too poorly and seem wilfully determined to deny ourselves our best chances of scoring.

i seen a guy wearing it when i was out but he wasn't fat

Excellent post.