SO MUCH for turning the Willows into a fortress this season!

With the newly-promoted Reds having proven to be a soft touch in their away games at Castleford and Wakefield, the big hope was that Salford could build on their impressive opening day home win against Celtic to make their ground in Weaste one of the most daunting stadiums for opposing teams to visit.

But that hope turned to despair on Friday night as Harlequins won at a canter.

The Reds were guilty of getting off to an embarrassingly bad start for the third successive game with Quins leading 22-0 after just 19 minutes of play. And there was no sign of Salford making progress in their bid to adapt to the blistering pace of Super League rugby.

That has been their biggest problem to date. And when that is the case the last man you want to come up against is Luke Dorn.

The jet-heeled former Red had a field day against a laboured defence and he thoroughly deserved his classy solo try late on.

His fellow Quins half back Danny Orr and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook also cut confidence-stricken Salford to shreds.

Some of the Reds’ defending was so bad that it had to be seen to be believed.

There are more than a couple of weak links in their defensive line with their left edge being a particular problem.

You had to sympathise with ex-skipper Malc Alker, who was screaming at his teammates to up their games at one point. He was one of the few Reds to emerge from the game with any credit, with the others being fellow hard workers Luke Adamson, Luke Swain, Karl Fitzpatrick, Phil Leuluai and Ray Cashmere.

Those players were instrumental in an improved second half performance which had Quins worried when their lead had been cut to 30-18. But Salford, who were forced to field a weakened team due to injuries to Willie Talau, Richard Myler, Mark Henry and Ian Sibbit, ran out of gas late on because of all of the defending they did in the first half.

Big improvements are needed and fast.

Team: Fitzpatrick; Wilshere, Littler, Turner, Ratchford; Smith, Paul; Cashmere, Alker, Stapleton, Adamson, Parker, Swain. Subs used: Leuluai, Walton, Sidlow, Nash. Tries: Parker, Wilshere, Paul. Goals: Wilshere (3), Attendance: 3,367.