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Shelbourne gain gritty draw with Ajax as Dutch side advance in Conference League The Reds fell a goal behind twice and recovered on both occasions Shelbourne carved out a gritty 2-2 draw against Ajax in their UEFA Europa Conference League qualifier second leg at Tolka Park. The Dutch side, 3-1 up from the first leg, were 2-1 up here by half-time before Sean Moore conjured up an equaliser six minutes from time. Ajax open the scoring in the 20th minute following Milan Mbeng being caught in possession and conceding a soft corner. The set-piece was played short initially and, when the cross came in from the wider angle, Danny Blind skipped over the ball, enough to put off the Reds defence and allow it run through to Julian Brandt who scored from close range. The Reds, combative and clearly up for the occasion, equalised three minutes later when Evan Caffrey managed to get the ball out from under his feet and take a left-foot shot. Heading goalward in the first instance it was given the aid of a minor deflection off Rodrigo Freitas' back and out-foxed goalkeeper Maarten Paes. Anton Gaaei put Ajax 2-1 ahead in the run to half-time, the Danish right-back blocking an attempted Kerr McInroy cross and snapping a half-volley home. Shels worked hard to try and get an equaliser, McInroy shot wide, Daniel Kelly had a penalty appeal turned down and Mbeng had a goal ruled out for an offside earlier in the move. Substitute Moore hit the 85th minute equaliser, running at and taking on the full-back before cutting in and curling a shot into the top corner. Shelbourne: Beach; Bone (Gannon 59), Casey, Ledwidge; Mbeng (Moore 80), Caffrey, Lunney (Roche 71), McInroy; Norris (Jarvis 80), Kelly, Rodrigo Freitas (Ring 71) Ajax: Paes; Gaaei, Bouwman, Blind (Baas h/t), Wijndal; Brandt(Ouazane 56), Regeer, Mokio; Carrizo (Janse 69), Marcos Leonardo (Tolu 56), Edvardsen (Henrique 69)