A dominant Dundee side proved just too strong for Forfar on visiting Station Park.
A brace from Craig Forsyth, and efforts from Colin McMenamin and Leigh Griffiths powered the visitors to a comfortable 4-1 win.
Both managers rang the changes before kick-off. No fewer than eight trialists were named among the two teams, and five of them started the match.
Forfar had an early flash at goal in the fourth minute when one of the Dundee trialists made a mistake in his own box.
Loons man Iain Campbell pounced on the error and let fly with a shot that drifted just wide of the left post with Rab Douglas at full stretch in the sticks.
Dundee then went close at the other end in the 12th minute.
A cracking pass from Paul McHale split Forfar down the middle and put McMenamin through, only for his angled shot to clip the crossbar and rebound to safety.
Iain Campbell set Dundee alarm bells ringing in the 23rd minute when a low 25-yard free-kick fizzed through the visitors’ wall, only for it to drift just wide of the right post.
Dundee were enjoying more of the possession and were putting plenty of testing balls into the Forfar box, but they lacked the killer finish.
This all changed in the 40th minute when a cross from a trialist found Forsyth in the Forfar box and he coolly slotted home with a 12-yard effort off the outside of his left boot.
Dundee came out after the break with renewed purpose and scored twice in the space of three minutes to end the game as a contest.
First Forsyth bagged his second of the match in the 52nd minute, when he forced his way into the box past two players and rammed the ball home from eight yards out.
McMenamin made it 3-0 in the 55th minute. Dundee broke quickly and McMenamin let rip with a 23-yard shot that flew into the back of the net.
Forfar had a couple of good chances to reduce the deficit as the clock began to tick down and Dundee took their foot off the gas.
Douglas saved well from a close-range Graham Gibson header on 69 minutes, while Paul Watson should have done better when he found himself in a great position with 75 minutes gone only to blast the ball high over the bar.
And they succeeded in getting themselves on the scoresheet in the 83rd minute when Calum Smith rattled the ball home from inside the box.
But Dundee had the last word when Leigh Griffiths knocked home Dundee’s fourth with three minutes remaining.
Attendance 842.