Hat-trick hero Barry Hayles enjoyed a landmark occasion as he put Derby to the sword at Pride Park where Millwall ran out 3-0 victors in the Coca-Cola Championship.

The former Fulham forward began his first three-goal haul since Boxing Day 2000 in the 18th minute, with his 100th strike in all major domestic competitions.

The 32-year-old completed his hat-trick in a seven-minute second-half spell.

But it had been visitors who toiled early on when an interchange involving Tommy Smith and Grzegorz Rasiak ended with the Polish international dragging his close-range shot marginally wide with five minutes gone.

Livewire Rasiak broke clear again just 60 seconds later but, this time, keeper Andy Marshall managed to turn a thunderous effort around the woodwork.

Millwall gave the Rams a scare when Matt Lawrence tested goalkeeper Lee Camp with a header before the Rams' Morten Bisgaard sent Smith running on goal, only for a desperate Mark Phillips lunge to rob the striker of possession as he shaped to shoot.

But, moments later, the Lions were ahead as Peter Sweeney floated a free-kick from the Lions' left to the back post where Danny Dichio nodded back across the face of goal for Hayles to head home in the 18th minute.

A sensational point-blank save from Camp denied Jody Morris in the 32nd minute.

And, as play swept to the other end, Marshall's outstretched right wrist deflected a Smith shot to safety.

As the interval approached, Dave Livermore survived a penalty shout after Bisgaard was halted in the Millwall box before the defender was booked by referee Martin Atkinson for bringing down the same player in the middle of the park.

In the second half, Derby again made most of the early running but, when presented with a penalty-box chance, Bisgaard could only hack the ball into the stand.

Millwall netted their second of the afternoon in elementary style in the 51st minute as Livermore took charge of proceedings on the Lions' left and centred for Hayles to direct the ball across goal and inside the far post.

Derby boss George Burley responded with a double substitution which saw Marco Reich and Blessing Kaku, the on-loan Bolton midfielder, replaced by Paul Peschisolido and Ian Taylor.

But the switch proved to little avail as Sweeney and Hayles combined to put the game beyond the Rams in the 58th minute when the former swept the ball into the danger area for the latter to head past the rooted Camp.

The final phase of the game passed with the hosts unable to find a combination which would unlock the dogged Lions' rearguard.

Peschisolido and Rasiak threatened only intermittently, but the visitors suffered a blow late in the game when player-manager Dennis Wise was flattened in his own penalty box and then stretchered out of the game.

Long-throw specialist Adrian Serioux was Wise's replacement, but Millwall endured only one more fright before full-time as Marshall saved from Peschisolido.

Teams:

Derby Camp, Kenna, Johnson, Huddlestone, Jackson, Bisgaard, Kaku (Taylor 53), Idiakez, Reich (Peschisolido 53), Rasiak, Smith (Tudgay 71).

Subs Not Used: Grant, Mills.

Booked: Bisgaard.

Millwall Marshall, Muscat, Lawrence, Phillips, Elliott, Sweeney, Morris, Wise (Serioux 79), Livermore, Hayles, Dichio.

Subs Not Used: Stack, Simpson, Dunne, Healy.

Booked: Livermore.

Goals: Hayles 18, 51, 58.

Att: 27,725

Ref: M Atkinson (W Yorkshire).