Millwall 3-0 Watford: Tom Bradshaw's first-half hat-trick downs Hornets
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The hat-trick was a first for Tom Bradshaw since he got three for Walsall at Nottingham Forest in an EFL Cup first-round tie in August 2015
Tom Bradshaw's first-half hat-trick helped Millwall inflict a third defeat on Watford in their past four games under Slaven Bilic.
Bradshaw finished superbly as he pounced on Mattie Pollock's error to put the Lions ahead early on before the in-form forward got a second from close range.
The 30-year-old got his third soon after following some good control in the box as Watford struggled to deal with the hosts' aerial threat.
Samuel Kalu hit the post for the Hornets in stoppage time as Watford failed to score for the first time since Bilic replaced Rob Edwards as manager last month.
The win moves Millwall up to eighth in the Championship, a point off the play-off places, while Watford drop to 15th and are three points behind their opponents in a congested middle part of the table.
Watford have still only won five of their 16 games in all competitions since being relegated from the Premier League in May.
Pollock, 21, was making his first start for Watford, and the son of former Middlesbrough and Manchester City defender Jamie misjudged a long clearance allowing the ball to fall to Bradshaw. The striker made no mistake with a right-footed effort to score for a second successive match.
Not long after, Watford's evening got worse as Imran Louza was stretchered off with an ankle injury before Jake Cooper and George Saville went close for the hosts.
Millwall got a deserved second when Cooper flicked on a long free-kick, Mason Bennett cut the ball back from the by-line and an unmarked Bradshaw had the simplest of finishes.
Soon after Bradshaw had his hat-trick inside 33 minutes. Another deep free-kick was flicked on by Cooper and Bradshaw showed good control before calmly slotting home from eight yards.
It could have been 4-0 had Cooper not missed his kick after the Watford defence failed to deal with a long throw just before the break.
Millwall ensured Watford had little hope of a goal as the second half wore on as their new-look defensive system ensured a second clean sheet in three matches.
Half-time substitute Kalu forced a corner from a blocked shot inside the final 20 minutes for the Hornets, while Millwall substitute Benik Afobe blasted an 83rd-minute effort wide of the near post.
Kalu struck the Millwall upright with a right-footed shot after a stoppage-time corner was not cleared before Lions' keeper George Long made a good follow-up save from Pollock.
Millwall manager Gary Rowett told BBC Radio London:
"I'm really pleased, really impressed with the players' performance.
"I think the start was so important. I think against a side like Watford, that have got good players in forward areas particularly, but I felt we started aggressively and put them under pressure and the crowd got behind us.
"To be 3-0 up, so resoundingly early on, just gave us that little bit of a cushion to then pick and choose when we stepped out and attacked."
Watford head coach Slaven Bilic told BBC Three Counties Radio:
"It was a bad game and a bad evening for us.
"Three very simple goals, three goals from situations that we knew that they were good at and that we were preparing the team for.
"We didn't create almost nothing concrete up until the last couple of minutes when we had a couple of chances, so at both ends we were simply below par."