Walter Figueira praises Derry City fans for helping keep fighting spirit alive in derby draw

The City attacker produced the one bit of magic needed to break Finn Harps’ resolve as he waltzed his way past Sam Todd outside the box before picking out substitute, Adam Liddle for the equalising goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

The former Waterford man, who netted twice against City during his last competitive appearance at Brandywell, was having a subdued game up until that point, starved of the ball and finding it difficult to get in behind a solid Harps defence.

And he stressed the importance of fighting right until the death as he intends to make the Lone Moor Road venue a fortress this season.

“It was a great crowd, it was fantastic,” said Figueira afterwards. “Even when we were 1-0 down they kept getting behind us and, for me, that was important. I really appreciated that and we delivered, we got a goal back.”For me it’s impirtant we don’t lose here at the Brandywell. This is our gaff! We need to make sure it’s difficult to win here and we will definitely turn things around,” he promised.

The wet, windswept conditions made life difficult for Derry, particularly in the second half as they played into the driving rain. Coupled with Harps’ dogged determination and defensive resilience it was a tough night for the Candy Stripes who were intent on impressing in their first home match of the season in front of the RTE cameras.

Despite being without a win from their opening two league fixtures, Figueira isn’t concerned and he believes the never-say-die attitude shown on Friday night will stand them in good stead.

“It was difficult,” he admitted. “I didn’t even think we played bad. We did loads of good things but it didn’t quite happen for us in the first half.”We had the desire to still be positive. We’ve been working hard in preseason and it shows.

“It’s important for us to be apply ourselves well until the final whistle. It was a real positive for us to keep the spirits high the longer the game went on.

“It was difficult to break them down because they stayed back but it was important for us as a collective to stay unified and grind out a result. It’s a draw and we’re not happy about it. We definitely wanted to win this game. It’s just important for us to stay positive and look forward to the next game.”

Harps’ three central defenders, Shane McEleney, Kosovar Sadiki and Todd did superbly to limit Derry’s chances and kept striker Tim Nilsen quiet for 76 minutes before he was replaced by Reading loanee, Liddle who ultimately made the difference.

However, Figueira showed his class as he jinked past a tired Todd with a sublime bit of skill, drove towards the net before finding the striker with a pinpoint pass and he admitted it was important to remain positive, even though manager, Declan Devine admitted he felt the game had got away from them at that point.

“I felt like it probably would’ve needed something a bit special to break these lot down and it was important for us to take our chance. We had a few half chances throughout the game but it was important we stayed hungry.

“We stayed positive and it showed we still have that spirit and desire to grind out results. We’re getting to know each other a lot better as the games go on. “It’s important we keep getting results and it’s important to get a win so we can roll on and make that a habit. We’re definitely gelling together and these kind of nights it shows.”

It’s been a difficult start to the new campaign but the former Chelsea youth player is confident they will turn it around.

“Everybody wants to start off well and it’s important we have characters in our team who keep us together and that’s excatly what we have, especially with Declan (Devine). He’s on to us to make sure we’re a unit and we’re looking to tackle it game by game. We will definitely come together hopefully that comes pretty quickly.”