St Johnstone stand on the brink of exiting the Europa League at the third qualifying round after a 2-1 defeat to Spartak Trnava at McDiarmid Park.
Two goals from Ivan Schranz either side of half-time left the Scottish Cup winners facing an uphill struggle for next week’s second leg in Slovakia.
However, captain Dave Mackay’s goal nearly three minutes into injury-time at least gave Saints some hope against Spartak, who finished third in the Slovakian top flight last season and were comfortable winners.
The Perth side were struck a massive blow before kick-off when talismanic striker Stevie May was ruled out by injury.
The 21-year-old, scorer of 27 goals last season, could not shake off the thigh problem which has plagued him in pre-season, so Lee Croft stepped in.
Manager Tommy Wright was absent from his team’s preparations for the match following the death of his mother, May, but returned from his native Northern Ireland for the kick-off.
Wright tasked David Wotherspoon with supporting Steven McLean – but Spartak showed their attacking prowess first.
Just three minutes had elapsed when Schranz’s through-ball allowed Martin Mikovic to race away from Frazer Wright – but goalkeeper Alan Mannus did well to push the speedy striker wide of the goal. His eventual cutback was intended for captain Marek Janecka but Brian Easton got in enough of a challenge to put the midfielder off and his effort was weak and off target.
The visitors then came close to the opener twice in the space of 30 seconds after 12 minutes.
First, Slovakia Under-21 international Schranz burst on to Janecka’s pass but found Mannus equal to his low shot at the near post.
From the resulting Jan Vlasko corner, the towering Schranz was denied a second time by Mannus, who managed to tip the midfielder’s header onto the bar and over.
Schranz waged a one-man war on the Saints goal all evening and Mackay was then forced into a desperate last-ditch tackle to stop the Slovakian youngster getting a shot on goal. After Mikovic’s follow-up effort was deflected for a corner, Schranz’s header from Vlasko’s flag-kick slipped just wide of Mannus’s left-hand upright.
With Vlasko also having a dangerous-looking shot deflected wide, the Perth outfit were up against it and they suffered an injury blow on the half-hour mark when Millar limped off to be replaced by the fit-again Gary McDonald.
Four minutes later, Saints were behind. Spartak skipper Janecka drifted to the left of the attack and slipped a ball to the overlapping Schranz – and this time the 20-year-old found the net via the underside of the crossbar with a powerful angled drive from 15 yards.
It was a fitting reward for the visitors, who dominated too easily throughout the first 45 minutes, largely due to St Johnstone’s inability to keep possession when they did get on the ball.
The home side got their first shot on target four minutes after the interval but Wotherspoon’s shot from the edge of the area was too straight at goalkeeper Dobrivoj Rusov.
The attack brought the home crowd to life – and Saints carved out another half-chance six minutes later. A deep cross from left-back Brian Easton evaded the Trnava defence but right-back Gary Miller screwed his header wide after arriving late at the back post.
In the 59th minute a chipped cross from Miller caused some concern in the Spartak defence but Rusov eventually flopped on the bouncing ball.
However, three minutes later the visitors doubled their advantage – and there was a slice of fortune about the way the ball broke forward for Trnava from a tackle 40 yards out. However, Schranz capitalised on hesitation from Mannus to find the net.
Erik Sabo could have added a third for Spartak on the break six minutes later, before Saints’ spirits were lifted three minutes from time when Wotherspoon arrowed in a 20-yard drive than kissed the crossbar on the way over.
Then three minutes into injury-time Wotherspoon’s low cross from the right found its way through to Mackay – and the defender’s low shot made it through a forest of legs to find the net and give Wright’s men a glimmer of hope for the second leg.