Harlequins opened up the Magic Weekend in Edinburgh with a largely uneventful 24-16 win over Salford at Murrayfield.

In front of a healthy crowd in the Scottish capital, Brian McDermott's men backed up their fine win at Leeds last weekend with another victory, their seventh of the year, to cement their position amongst the engage Super League's play-off chasers.

However they were never comfortable against Shaun McRae's side who, in scrum-half Richard Myler, had one of the games better performers.

Myler's quick thinking had earned Salford a 10-6 lead at one stage, before second-half tries from David Howell and Luke Dorn earned Harlequins the points.

The game, the first Super League clash to be staged in Scotland since Wigan met Gateshead at Tynecastle in 1999, got off to a frenzied start with two tries coming inside the opening seven minutes.

Luke Williamson, the Quins second-row forward, scored the first try of the weekend - and his first for the club - when he took in Danny Orr's ball close to the line and went over with little resistance.

Rob Purdham slotted the conversion, only for Salford to level four minutes later.

The score should have been avoided as Quins full-back Chris Melling had ample time to deal with Myler's slide kick, but his failure do so allowed Stefan Ratchford - deputising at stand-off for the injured Jeremy Smith - to ground the loose ball.

After John Wilshere had added the extras, Salford dominated the ensuing period of play.

They deservedly took the lead with 15 minutes on the clock. Myler demonstrated the speed of thought that earned him an England call-up while still a National League player, as he slotted a kick in-goal and then rounded the defender to score himself, his 10th of the season.

The Quins did regain their lead by the interval, though, with Tony Clubb fending off four would-be tacklers on his route to a fourth try of the season. Purdham's second goal edged the London side into a 12-10 advantage.

Myler, the most potent weapon in Salford's attack, was unlucky not to net himself a second try five minutes after the restart, with another smart kick and some subsequent neat footwork relieved by Melling, while it took the tackle of the match by Dorn to halt Luke Adamson who had been set free by Philip Leuluai.

Dorn, a former Salford player, was soon in the thick of the action at the other end, laying on a pressure-relieving try for Howell.

After Stuart Littler had conceded a penalty close to his own line, the Quins switched the play to the opposite flank and Dorn created a timely opening for Howell, who made no mistake in following up his two tries at Leeds last week with a ninth score of the campaign.

Salford thought they had earned an instant response when Robbie Paul - playing in his 400th club game in British rugby league - grounded in the corner after neat work from Mark Henry, only for the video referee to correctly judge that he had been pushed in touch by Clubb before touching down.

Dorn then made sure of the points with a close-range effort, although referee Gareth Hewer should have spotted a knock-on in the build-up to the Australian's score.

Purdham kicked the goal to end up with four from four before Ratchford ensured that the final score was a fairer reflection of his side's efforts with a second try.