Yes, it was as awful as it sounds. Having sneaked a 6-4 lead after 8 minutes courtesy of a neat chip by Aussie debutant Steve Doherty and fortuitous gather by Jon Roper, Hornets were systematically dismantled by a Salford side that couldn't believe just how easy it was.

By the time Mick Nanyn crashed in from a flat Watson pass on 22 minutes, Salford were 22-6 ahead - two of their tries having come from kick-off returns without, a Hornets player laying a hand on the ball carrier. Shocking.

Most of the damage was being done through Hornets right centre channel, where Mick Nanyn?s failure to impose himself in the tackle repeatedly left Sean Cooper facing an onslaught of red jerseys. By the time the half time hooter gave the Hornets contingent temporary respite from humiliation, Martin Hall?s side had shipped 30 points.

Most frustrating had been the fact that Hornets had, in fact been over the Salford line four times - but Steve Doherty had dropped the ball in the grounding and Matt Long had been held up over the line. Even Jon Roper's 80 metre interception ended fruitlessly as he failed to look left for Casey Mayberry at any stage of his run. Frustrating.

The second half looked unnervingly like the first. Salford renting the Hornets line asunder at random - streaming through paper-thin tackling in the centre channels to score almost at will. The removal of Mick Nanyn - replaced by James Bunyan after an hour - did plug one leak. But like water, Salford just seemed to seep through somewhere else.

Matt Long did manage to get in for a close range try on 50 minutes, but it was temporary blip - Clinch grubbing through to touch down unopposed to re-start the deluge just three minutes later.

And so it went - a parade of red shirts right to left. For the record, Salford registered 11 tries between Beverley, Kirk, Coley, Flowers, Alker, Highton and Clinch. But it was the manner in which they were conceded that really stings.

For the first time in a long time there was a tangible lack of urgency and concern. Heads were down after just 20 minutes and, while Hornets pack repeatedly hurled themselves onto the Salford defence, they never really did so with enough conviction. And while Hornets' 'soft-centres' were certainly profitably targeted by the Reds, the general air of malaise spread across the park.

So, we shoulder the humiliation and carry on. Going back to the drawing board would be the usual suggestion, but as this was pretty much a full strength side, whatever comes before the drawing board would be my first port of call.

And, yes, I know that it's better to be good at the right end of the season - but defeats like this sap confidence and lower morale. It's important to remember that every game is an advert for your next one - and on this showing, even I might be tempted to pass. Which is more than half the Hornets team looked capable of doing yesterday.

Positives? If you looked hard enough, you'd find Owen, Watson and Bally grafting away in a well beaten team. But there were few other crumbs of comfort. Hally's got a tough fortnight ahead - and I'm glad we've got a week off to get over this deep embarrassment.