Declan Devine had given up hope before Adam Liddle netted Derry City's dramatic late equaliser

Finn Harps were on course for their first ever league win at Brandywell Stadium after a battling display as Derry struggled to cope with the 'horrendous' conditions, playing into a strong wind and driving rain in the second half of their first home fixture of the new season.

Ryan Connolly had capitalised on a defensive error from former Harps skipper, Ciaran Coll and caught Peter Cherrie out of position with a well taken strike which gave the visitors a deserved lead on 33 minutes.

And while Derry huffed and puffed and were frustrated by a resolute Harps side, Devine praised the resilience of his own players who refused to give up the ghost and got their just rewards with virtually the last kick of the game in stoppage time.

"There's no point me sitting here talking it up," Devine said bluntly after the game. "We scored in the 95th minute. We got out of jail but that's a testament to the players because even in my own heart of hearts I thought it was gone.

"Every game is going to be difficult. It's a tough league. Dundalk have gone to Shelbourne tonight and sneaked across the line. St Pat's went to Sligo and produced a brilliant result. Every game this year will be very difficult but there's no one in there high-fiving each other after that. They're bitterly disappointed because they know they are all better than that. But I do have to say the conditions were horrific on pitchside."

After an opening day 1-0 defeat to champions, Dundalk, Liddle's late strike could prove to be the catalyst which kick-starts City's season going into Monday night's trip to Inchicore where they meet St Pat's. While admitting it was a poor performance from his side who looked disjointed for large periods, Devine is confident his new-look squad will turn it around.

"There's a lot of factors in the game," he reflected. "We didn't perform anywhere near our levels, the conditions were horrendous, the mentality was knocked a bit in terms of giving away a really poor goal.

"I've spoken about the importance of the squad and I thought the subs coming on did well. Jack Malone gave us energy in the middle of the park; Stevie Mallon got us up the pitch with his ability to go past people and Adam Liddle got a last minute goal which we're delighted to take."

Derry went through the entirety of last season without losing consecutive games and so Devine was delighted to keep that particular record alive.

"It was so key to us we didn't lose to Finn Harps at home. I'm sure they will be bitterly disappointed but we're not in the game for celebrating draws. We're really disappointed because I think we're better than that. But I do have to say the players deserve huge credit because they kept going and going.

"I don't think Finn Harps deserved to win the game and I don't think we deserved to win the game so on reflection I'd say a draw was probably a fair result."

With the RTE cameras at Brandywell and a bumper first home attendance of the season, Devine was disappointed his team failed to live up to their potential. However, he felt the conditions made it hugely difficult.

"It was absolutely horrific at pitchside," he said. "It was horrific. Our keeper is kicking balls out and it's coming back. The ball is only going 30 yards from his own goal. It was so difficult and when you're getting beat, and the goal we gave away, it was a mental block for us tonight.

"We knew we weren't at it. We knew we weren't at our best but to be fair to them they kept plugging away and working hard. Even when the ball kept coming back to us we still tried to stay on the front foot but it was very difficult.

"We will certainly get better as it goes along. On the grand scheme of things there's no hiding away from it, we didn't play well and got out of jail with a last minute goal. It would've been very easy to give up the ghost and accept defeat and that's the one pleasing aspect. When I go home tonight I will look at it and say the players deserve huge credit because they've kept digging in and going for that equaliser."