HOME Farm/Everton's temperamental full back Tom Lawless did his team no favours in their 3-1 defeat at the Brandywell on Saturday night.

The Dubliner was sent off after only 18 minutes for protesting a penalty decision. And from that point onwards, the premier division new boys were in serious difficulty.

Derry's Tommy Dunne fired home the penalty to make it 2-0 after Trevor Vaughan was adjudged to have handled inside the area.

Three minutes earlier, their captain, Peter Hutton, had broken the deadlock when he headed a James Keddy cross beyond the reach of Brian O'Shea.

In fact, Home Farm were given a late lifeline when central defender Stephen McGuinness netted a bizarre goal in the 73rd minute.

The home side had to wait until the 91st minute to give the scoreline a respectable look. Substitute Ryan Coyle, who had entered the fray at the expense of Garry Beckett five minutes earlier, was sent clear by Sean Hargan and the substitute skilfully rounded the goalkeeper to score.