Gritty Shels battle hard in Amsterdam against European superpower Ajax
STEP UP: Shelbourne's Sean Moore dejected after conceding a goal in Amsterdam. Picture: INPHO/Manuel Blondeau
Shelbourne showed true grit and determination right until the end on a night the gulf in class showed as The Reds fell to a 3-1 defeat in the first leg of their Europa Conference League third round qualifier.
Mika Godts' early penalty had the hosts in control after just six minutes, with Owen Wijndal grabbing a second shortly after. Kasper Dolberg made it three after the break as Daniel Kelly added an excellent late consolation.
The four-time European Champions, off the back of a hugely disappointing fifth-place finish in the Eredivisie last season, meant they were participating in a competition their expectant fans would not be used to but the sold-out Johan Cruyff ArenA didn't wait to have long to see their side take control of the tie.
Having bolstered their talented squad in recent weeks, bringing in the European experience of both Julian Brandt and Marc Andre Ter Stegen it was one of their young stars who might be heading for the exit that stole the show.
The highly-rated, PSG-linked, Mika Godts showed why there was such furor around the young Belgian, when he showed great feet to cut inside both Sean Moore and Milan Mbeng into the area.
The latter was eventually adjudged to have brought the left winger down after a lengthy VAR check and Godts made no mistake from 12-yards.
Following the disappointing start, Shels tried to settle, working hard in their 5-4-1 formation and not allowing their hosts get into a rhythm.
Despite their heroic effort at the back, Ajax found a second just after 20-minutes played when Steven Berghuis delivered an inch-perfect cross from the right side finding Wijndal, who had time to control and fire into the roof of the net.
Following a couple of outstanding saves from Eddie Beach, Shels enjoyed a couple of bouts of possession.
This seemed to breathe a bit of confidence into the visitors and, despite having failed to score in six of their last eight European outings, forced a good chance from a set piece on the stroke of half-time.
Daniel Kelly found a yard of space but couldn't direct his header goalwards, with the flag eventually going up for offside.
But the sense that the hosts could turn the dial up at any moment continued to linger as John Russell’s hopes of keeping the tie alive seemed to fade as, just five minutes after the restart, Ajax added a third.
Berghuis, much like his first assist, and from the right, cut in on that wand of a left foot and put the ball right inside the six-yard box for Dolberg to poke home.
Ten minutes later Shels had their Welsh stopper to thank for keeping it at three when Beach stood up brilliantly to deny Godts his second from the spot, following Evan Caffrey’s harsh handball concession.
But in one of the biggest double-headers in their history, the visitors tried desperately to take the shine off the result and Caffrey tried just that, marauding forward and forcing Maarten Paes into a smart save.
And with seven minutes remaining Shels gave their traveling support something to celebrate as they finished strong. Sub Ali Coote, having collected Paddy Barrett’s raking ball, saw his powerful volley parried back to the edge of the box where Kelly was on hand to coolly slot the ball into the bottom corner for the goal his relentless performance deserved.
Maarten Paes; Anton Gaaei, Daley Blind, Aaron Bouwman, Owen Wijndal; Oscar Gloukh (Jorthy Mokio, 58), Davy Klaassen (Marcos Leonardo, 58), Youri Regeer; Steven Berghuis (Oliver Edvardsen, 65), Mika Godts (Maher Carrizo, 77), Kasper Dolberg (Julian Brandt, 65).
Eddie Beach; James Norris (Sean Gannon, 93), Kameron Ledwidge, Paddy Barrett, Sam Bone (James Roche, 93), Milan Mbeng; Evan Caffrey, Kerr McInroy (Odhran Casey, 80), Jack Henry-Francis (Ali Coote, 80), Sean Moore (Rodrigo Freitas, 73); Daniel Kelly.
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