Shels bow out with pride intact after holding Ajax to Tolka draw
LATE LEVELLER: Sean Moore of Shelbourne, centre, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's second goal during the UEFA Conference League Third Qualifying Round second leg match between Shelbourne and Ajax at Tolka Park in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Unlike last year, there’ll be no European extension into the winter for Shelbourne after they bowed out of the Conference League to giants Ajax.
Dan Kelly’s reply in Amsterdam last week to curb the Dutch dominance presented the Reds with a nibble to chew on heading into the return but that was soon extinguished by a soft concession to former Germany international midfielder Julian Brandt.
Although they took just four minutes to equalise on the night through Evan Caffrey’s curler that clipped the back of Rodrigo Freitas on the way in, the throaty Tolka Park noise was quickly moderated by Anton Gaaei’s snapshot six minutes before the break.
Milan Mbeng reeled away celebrating a second leveller just past the hour, only for the ex-Cork City to be crushed by the perils of a video review. Portuguese referee Cláudio Pereira eventually declared it to be disallowed, owing to an offside in the build-up.
Substitute Seán Moore, who was already celebrating his 21st birthday, did succeed in sourcing the strike to make it 2-2 with five minutes remaining.
Yet the Manchester United miracle of 1999, which new Shels manager John Russell cited as the template to follow in chasing a deficit, didn’t materialize. Instead, Ajax progress to face Swiss side Sion over the next fortnight for a place in the group phase of the Conference League.
Entering European competition as a third-placed team, rather than as champions 12 months ago, charts a difficult task to progression but by the coefficient earning a bye in the first round, followed by elimination of Estonian outfit Kalju, Shels were entitled to their big occasion against a side with four European Cups to their name.
Grossing €900,000 may seem miniscule in comparison to the €4.45m of prize-money pocketed from Shels' 2025 exploits but it still constitutes a dent in the hefty operational costs built up in recent years.
They met an Ajax side in transition after a recent decline but Russell too faces an overhaul of sorts now that he can devote his undivided attention to domestic matters.
Teams evolve and dissolve but with Damien Duff, firstly, and then Joey O’Brien, departing from the 2024 title-winning side, the backbone of the team is following them.
The sight of club captain Paddy Barrett in the stands, rather than being part of the squad, pointed to the new regime laying an early marker on personnel.
Russell had suffered five defeats in his first six matches at the helm but he can hope this draw can provide a springboard to complete an underwhelming season with a flourish. At least they’ll know the Shamrock Rovers team they host in Sunday’s league outfit will carry deeper bruises from the midweek European task.
Had a low cross from Freitas on the run been turned in after just five minutes, then the momentum might have gone the way of the hosts but rather they were always chasing this tie.
New Shels goalkeeper Eddie Beach was spared PSG target Mika Godts, who was kept in reserve, but he ought to have done better from Brandt’s 20th-minute opener, curled into the far corner after the German engineered a nifty short corner.
McEnroy’s pass into Caffrey enabled his midfield colleague Caffrey to unleash a thunderbolt for 1-1 but the man who assisted gifted Gaaei a sight on goal when failing to clear. The Danish international applied full punishment by cracking his half-volley inside Beach’s near post.
Half-chances were squandered by McInroy and Odhrán Casey shortly after the restart but Ajax could introduce Tolu Arokodare, signed from Wolves for a loan fee of €45m, to see it out. They got a scare when Belfast boy Moore cut inside to float an shot into the far corner but all it transpired to be was sealing the only positive result for an Irish team in Europe.
E Beach; M Mbeng (S Moore 82), S Bone (S Gannon 60), O Casey, K Ledwidge, J Norris (W Jarvis 82); E Caffrey, K McInroy, JJ Lunney (J Roche 75); D Kelly; R Frietas (D Ring 75).
M Paes; A Gaaei, A Bouwman, D Blind (Y Baas HT), O Wijndal (C Henrique 69); J Mokio, Y Regeer; M Carrizo (D Janse 70), J Brandt (A Ouazane 57), O Edvardsen; M Leonardo (T Arokodare 57).
Referee: Cláudio Pereira (POR).
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