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Shelbourne manager John Russell praised his players' display after a "special night" in Tolka Park as they drew 2-2 with Dutch powerhouse Ajax. While the result sees Shels bow out in the Conference League 5-3 on aggregate, it came after a stirring second leg display against one of Europe's most historically illustrious clubs. Dan Kelly and Sean Moore scored the goals as the hosts twice came from behind and they even had a goal chalked off via VAR, as Milan Mbeng's strike was disallowed early in the second half. "We could have got the win," Russell told RTÉ Sport. "I think the VAR decision was really frustrating for us because that goes 2-2 and we're in the ascendancy. "The second half performance, the energy in the ground. We got our block up and got a higher press on Ajax and caused lots of problems. "It's a special night because this is Ajax we're talking about, one of the powerhouses of European football, with such history and they've come into Tolka. "It was brilliant we could host the game here and this club's had some really good European nights over the last season or two but tonight is one of the special ones. "We've gotten a draw against a massive club and the energy from the crowd tonight was amazing." Shels trailed 3-1 after a respectable showing in the away leg, albeit owing much to Eddie Beach's display in goal, with Dan Kelly firing home a late goal to bring it back to a two-goal tie. "I wouldn't say the pressure was off because our mindset and mentality was to go and try and win the game," said Russell. "We felt that, Tolka Park, a tight ground, was going to be different to the Johan Cruyff Arena. "Over there, we had to suffer and defend, it's a big pitch. We rode our luck at times, we had to rely on Eddie Beach but tonight we felt that we could, with our gameplan, have a go off them. And we did. "We had two brilliant performances from Dan Kelly and Rodrigo Freitas. I thought Roddy was brilliant. His hold-up play was a real outlet for us. "And Dan's got elite pace. He showed that over there in Amsterdam when he got his goal. But tonight he was a real threat, spinning down the channels. "All over the pitch there were some big performances. Kerr McInroy, he's just a Rolls Royce in the middle of the park. JJ's [Lunney] been out. It was his first start in weeks and was back in, controlling the game." The 2024 champions have endured a frustrating season domestically, one marked by extremely poor home form in particular, with Russell replacing Joey O'Brien as manager midway through the campaign. Currently in fifth in the table, Russell challenged his players to bring the same energy to the remaining league games to deliver more big European nights next year. "We knew before the tie we were playing a monster club, one of the best in Europe. We've given a really good account of ourselves tonight. We've probably shown what we're capable of doing. "The challenge for the group now is to do it for 10 games in the league season and to try and get nights like this again."