Friendly: Dundalk 3 - 0 Finn Harps

Dundalk won their final pre-season fixture with ease, beating Finn Harps 3-0 through a Kurtis Byrne brace and Darren Meenan strike.

Dundalk’s line-up was strong with Stephen Kenny knowing it was the last chance to give his players minutes before the season begins in earnest at United Park next Friday night while the same could also be said for the visiting side.

It was Harps who started brightly with Pat McCann firing one off target from range and Ruairi Keating flashed one across Gabriel Sava’s goal as they looked for an early opener with the erratic Italian going on to pick up a booking for rushing 30 yards from his line to make a save with his hand.

Sava, doing his best to atone for that error, managed to do with a fine stop with his legs after McCann drilled low at him from 15 yards and despite Dundalk’s possession increasing as the half wore on, they just lacked cutting edge in the final third to make the most of it.

Richie Towell flicked wide from a cross by the ever reliable left foot of Dane Massey before Meenan blazed over the top with a volley when he should have hit the target to end a rather drab first half from The Town perspective.

Chances were at a premium in the second half until the 63^rd minute of play when Dundalk took the lead through a moment of magic that the game was missing until that point. Meenan, from wide left, fed Byrne inside the area and with no backlift, sent the ball sweetly into the top corner.

Patrick Hoban almost added a second with his first touch after coming off the bench, meeting Dane Massey’s delivery with a firm header that just whistled over Winn’s goal. With just under 15 minutes to go, the hosts killed off the contest with Byrne’s second of the night.

John Mountney showed great tenacity to battle for the ball on the edge of the Donegal men’s box and after winning it, slid a superb ball through for Byrne and he supplied a classy finish past Winn at his near post.

David McMillan and Hoban then gave a good indicator of the kind of link up the Lilywhites faithful can expect from them this season when the left the visiting defence chasing shadows before McMillan curled one at Shaun Patton who saved well and did so from the ex-UCD man’s strike partner moments later from a strong header.

Byrne was involved again when Dundalk added their third of the night with five minutes remaining. He raced to the byline, keeping the ball in play, before cutting back for an onrushing Meenan who made mistake with a simple finish meaning confidence is high in Kenny’s camp ahead of the league opener next Friday in Drogheda.

Dundalk: Gabriel Sava; Mark Rossiter (Sean Gannon HT), Andy Boyle, Simon Kelly (Ciaran O’Connor 87), Dane Massey (Conor McDonald 87); Ruaidhri Higgins (David McMillan 79), Richie Towell (Stephen O’Donnell HT), Mountney; Darren Meenan, Marc Griffin (Patrick Hoban 72), Kurtis Byrne.

Subs not used: Peter Cherrie

Finn Harps: Conor Winn (Shaun Patton 76); James Doherty, Ciaran Coll (C) (Mark Forker 76), Keith Cowan, Patrick Mailey; Damien McNulty, Michael Funston, Pat McCann (Paul McVeigh 76), Ruairi Keating (Graham Fisher 42); Sean McCarron, Johnny Bonner.

Subs not used: None.

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Kurtis Byrne (Dundalk).