SV Darmstadt 98 have warmed up for their return to the Bundesliga by securing their progress in the DFB-Pokal with a comfortable 5-0 victory over Erndtebruck.
It was the perfect start to the first-round clash for the visitors as they broke the deadlock inside nine minutes through Marco Sailer, who found the space to fire home from a Marcel Heller cross.
The lead was doubled just a minute later when Dominik Stroh-Engel capitalised on hesitancy in the box to slot home calmly under pressure.
Darmstadt looked comfortable after striking twice in the early stages, and they were rarely threatened by the hosts as the fourth-tier side struggled to enjoy long spells on top.
Erndtebruck were restricted to speculative long-range efforts as they made a better start to the second half, but any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Heller finished off a clever move by tapping in from close range.
It was Stroh-Engel who extended the lead in emphatic style as Jan Rosenthal evaded a couple of challenges before delivering an inch-perfect cross to allow his teammate to fire home his second of the evening.
However, there was still time for a fifth late on as Konstantin Rausch took advantage of poor marking to pick out the bottom corner from Florian Jungwirth's delivery.
Callum Mulvihill
