Tiernan Lynch kicked off his reign as Derry City manager with a defeat at reigning champions Shelbourne.
Northern Ireland internationals Liam Boyce and Carl Winchester were handed competitive debuts at Tolka Park.
Three goals in the opening 15 minutes saw the hosts lead 2-1 before a late first half penalty extended the lead for Damian Duff's side.
During the half-time break the floodlights went out leading to nearly an hour's delay before the second half comenced.
Neither team added to the scoreline after the restart as Shels picked up an opening night win with Lynch left to questiuon whether it was the right decision to restart or not.
"I'm not sure it was, 55 minutes was a long time," said the Derry boss when asked if the game should have resumed.
"If my team was 3-1 up, I'm sure I'd have wanted the game to go ahead and I totally get that.
"The big thing from our end is making sure the safety of the players, but we got through it. We take it on the chin and we go on.
"I think anyone that thought that we were going to come in and blow everyone away was a bit naïve.
"This was always going to be a process, something that we had to work out. We're going to have good days in this, we're going to have bad days in this.
"There's a lot of work to be done but I've no doubt in my mind you saw glimpses that show how good this team is going to be."
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