A goal either side of the break condemned Crusaders to defeat in Gibraltar in the first leg of their Europa Conference League tie with Bruno's Magpies.

The Crues might have opened the scoring with just over a quarter-of-an-hour on the clock when Ross Clarke embarked on a run down the right only to see his subsequent shot dealt with by keeper Matt Silva.

Magpies moved in front a minute from the break through defender Daniel Bent with a finish from the edge of the box.

And they doubled their advantage three minutes into the second half courtesy of Argentinian born striker Pibe who calmly ran onto a defence splitting pass to beat Johnny Tuffey.

The Crusaders pulled a goal back just after the hour after Jordan Forsythe turned home Clarke's corner and whilst Paul Heatley twice came close to levelling the visitors just couldn't find that elusive equaliser.

The sides meet again at Seaview next Thursday, kick-off 8pm.