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On a tough night for the League of Ireland, Shelbourne were anomalous as they performed superbly in a 2-2 draw against Ajax in Drumcondra. Ajax allowed the Reds to play after a two-goal win in the first leg and, while the Dutch side comfortably advanced from this third qualifying round of the Conference League, Shels were magnificent. Evan Caffrey had an unforgettable moment when cancelling out Julian Brandt's goal only for Anton Gaaei to restore Ajax's lead in an absorbing first half. VAR denied Shels an equaliser their endeavours merited before a piece of magic from young Seán Moore that will be replayed over and over in his head while he walks this earth. This has been a poor year for the Reds, with manager John Russell replacing Joey O'Brien before their European campaign, but they have plenty of quality and were far from out of their depth against an understandably complacent Ajax who outclassed the Reds in front of over 50,000 fans last week. Having had Eddie Beach and a dollop of fortune to thank for not get a hiding in Amsterdam, Shels at least would have felt they had a glimmer of hope this evening - even without Paddy Barrett, their talismanic defender who has over a decade of experience in Europe. Barrett, for reasons not immediately apparent, was not in the Shels squad. In the warm-up - a misnomer on an alarmingly hot day in Dublin - Shels' three centre-backs Odhran Casey, Kameron Ledwidge and Sam Bone trained together. Daley Blind, whose former club Manchester United were in action the scent of a barbeque south of here in Croke Park last evening, defied his age to captain Ajax in his third spell for the club. Ajax boss Míchel was happy to make a scatter of changes, trusting his squad to have enough to deal with the Reds. Veteran former goalkeeper Tim Krul was among the 4,000 present. Tolka was ravenous for hope and on five minutes the locals were off their seats as Rodrigo Freitas raced to keep the ball in play, to the extent he had a nasty collision with the fence separating the pitch and the fans at the Drumcondra end; Kerr McInroy was nearly in but Gaaei cleared. Ajax resumed domination of the ball and on 11 minutes James Norris stole in to block Maher Carrizo. The seemingly inevitable Ajax goal nearly arrived five minutes later when Gaaei's shot, after sustained build-up from the Dutch side, was deflected off the post by McInroy. Shels will have regrets about the opener which arrived on 20 minutes, especially as it came from a corner which should have been a free-out for a push on Milan Mbeng. A short routine saw Brandt aim the ball to the back post and it went all the way in through a crowded area. A soft free preceded the equaliser, Freitas going down easily. Shels worked the ball calmly and Caffrey's composure was rewarded with luck as his left-footed effort from outside the box deflected in off none other than Freitas, who was having quiet the week, having been sent off against St Patrick's in the league here on Sunday. The same player was booked on 27 minutes for a late challenge on Blind, with the old venue coming alive. This was Shels' best spell and the Portuguese's header prompted Maarten Paes to palm out for a corner which came to nought. Then Owen Winjdal raided and his strike, packing power and swerve, prompted Beach to help over. Ajax were back in front on the night six minutes before the break through Gaaei. He drilled the ball home at Beach's near post, with replays suggesting the keeper was nowhere near saving it. Ajax were enjoying themselves and Beach had to get down smartly to push another Winjdal effort around the post. Shels worked the ball well in the sixth minute of the second half and, teed up by the impressive Dan Kelly, McInroy should have done better than drag his effort wide. Kelly went down in the box three minutes later after more good Shels attacking; referee Cláudio Pereira rightly did not see enough in Jorthy Mokio's challenge, though Kelly was entitled to look for a penalty too. Sam Bone's header over from a McInroy corner illustrated Shels' relative dominance in the second half. Kelly is known for his pace mainly but he fashioned an outstanding diagonal ball to Norris midway through the half; Norris played a one-two with McInroy, who was also excellent on the night; the ball fell to Mbeng at the back post, with the right back beating Paes. Sadly, VAR later ruled that Norris was offside from Kelly's pass. Russell emptied the bench to give the substitutes an opportunity to play top-class opposition - and boy did Moore take it, on his birthday no less. He danced around the edge of the box before curling in a gorgeous left-footed strike with five minutes left. Having turned 21, this was not a bad birthday for the Belfast boy. Beach's fine parry from big Toluwalase Arokodare at the death means he can be even prouder of his efforts over the two legs, even if Shels exit the Conference League. Moore, Caffrey and Kelly, on target last week, can always talk of the time they scored against Ajax of Amsterdam. Shelbourne: Eddie Beach; Milan Mbeng (Seán Boyd, 81), Odhran Casey, Kameron Ledwidge, Sam Bone (Seán Gannon, 60), James Norris (Will Jarvis, 81); Evan Caffrey, Kerr McInroy, JJ Luney (James Roche, 73); Dan Kelly, Rodrigo Freitas (Daniel Ring, 72). Ajax: Maarten Paes; Anton Gaaei, Aaron Bouwman, Daley Blind (Youri Baas, 46), Owen Wijndal (Caio Henrique, 69); Horthy Mokio, Youri Regeer, Julian Brandt (Abdellah Ouzane, 57); Maher Carrizo (Dies Janse, 70), Marcos Leonardo (Toluwalase Arokodare, 57), Oliver Edvardsen. Referee: Cláudio Pereira (Portugal).