ABERDEEN were far too classy for Shelbourne as Niall McGinn celebrated his 26th birthday with a double, writes Mark Walker.
It was an easy win for the Dons, who suffered an injury scare when new signing Calvin Zola limped off.
Derek McInnes's new-look side could and should have won by far more after falling a goal behind to a Jake Donnolly free-kick, before McGinn continued his excellent form from last season.
The new Pittodrie manager revealed Zola's injury isn't as bad as first feared and was relieved to come through the match on the bone-hard Tolka Park pitch otherwise unscathed after already losing Chris Clark to a knee injury in a win at Malahide United on Thursday.
McInnes said: "I think Calvin's going to be all right. Their boy came down the back of him and he said he felt a sharp pain so we'll see how he is, but the physio and doctor are quite sure it's nothing too sinister. But I just felt with the pitch and everything else, it was better not to take any more risks.
"We were really concerned about the surface. The baking hot sun didn't help it and you're always running the risk of injury with that kind of pitch. It was as poor a pitch as you will see.
"The boys deserve a lot of credit for coming back. I thought the tempo and enthusiasm in the second half were terrific and they rose above the pitch conditions. We scored two very good goals and passed up loads more."
McGinn has now netted seven goals in four pre-season games and said: "The most important thing was to get the win. We didn't play very well in the first half, but we came out and passed it a lot better in the second period.
"We went out all guns blazing and it was nice to be on the scoresheet on your birthday. It rounds off a great week in Ireland."
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