In-form Watford made a mockery of Middlesbrough’s pre-season billing as promotion favourites by effectively beating them inside the opening 20 minutes this afternoon, with the 3-1 win giving them a third straight victory to move up to third in the table.

The Hornets got off to an absolute flyer, with a terrible mistake from David Wheater gifting Danny Graham the opener after just 17 seconds.

Jordon Mutch doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 12th minute before the hapless visitors were carved apart again, with Graham’s second ensuring the Hornets had the points in the bank before even a quarter of the game had elapsed.

Watford then showed fine professionalism to control the game and kill it off and make sure of their first success at Vicarage Road this term, although the unfortunate Adrian Mariappa did put through his own net with 12 minutes remaining to ensure the visitors made the long journey back home with their first away goal of the campaign to show for their sub-standard efforts.

Malky Mackay was always going to have to make one change due to Andrew Taylor’s ineligibility against his parent club, but, not surprisingly, the Hornets were otherwise unchanged from the team that demolished Millwall 6-1 a week previously.

The on-loan Middlesbrough defender’s absence meant Lee Hodson came back into the side at right-back, with Lloyd Doyley reverting to the opposite side of the backline.

Boro, who started the day two points and eight places beneath their opponents, made three changes, despite recording back-to-back home wins with a 3-1 victory over Reading last Saturday.

Justin Hoyte was ruled out with a hamstring injury, while Nicky Bailey and Tarmo Kink dropped to the bench, and in came Matthew Bates, captain Gary O’Neil and Andy Halliday.

Watford are developing a nice habit of scoring early goals, but the home faithful couldn’t have wished their side would be in front after just 17 seconds.

Boro centre half Wheater was the creator with an absolutely suicidal back pass intended for Jason Steele, but he failed to notice that Graham was lurking and the in-form striker was on to it in a flash and he rounded the keeper to score his third in as many matches and seventh of the season to get his side off to a dream start against his first club.

The Teessiders were stunned but an O’Neil header tested Scott Loach for the first time in the eighth minute before, soon after, the skipper picked out Leroy Lita on the left side of the box, but superb covering from Hodson led to the concession of the first corner of the afternoon, which the hosts dealt with comfortably.

Boro, playing a 4-5-1 formation when defending, had another opening when Scott McDonald fired over from 30 yards, but by the 12th minute Watford had the contest firmly in their grasp.

After a deflected Will Buckley cross had led to the home side’s first corner of the match, Martin Taylor went up with Wheater to contest Don Cowie’s set piece from the right and the ball broke back to Mutch on the edge of the area and the on-loan Birmingham City midfielder connected superbly with a right-footed half-volley that bounced into the ground and seemed to go straight through Steele to make it 2-0.

The Hornets almost had a third in the 17th minute when, following their third corner, some neat inter-play between Marvin Sordell and Buckley saw the latter dink the ball into the middle of the area with the outside of his left foot, but Mariappa wasn’t able to get over his header and the chance went over.

But 3-0 it was in the 20th minute when Don Cowie got away from a ridiculously lame challenge from Bates on the left and scampered into the area before picking out Graham, who simply side-footed in his second of the afternoon to make it a staggering nine goals for Watford in their last 80 minutes of football.

There was a moment of alarm for the Hornets seven minutes later when their two-goal striker was clattered into by Stephen McManus, but, after some treatment, he was fine to continue.

The Hornets remained composed as their opponents tried to gain some semblance of a foothold in the contest and they were helped by referee Fred Graham, who ludicrously decided to book Hodson in the 33rd minute for what, at worst, was an innocuous foul on Halliday. However, O’Neil could do no better than blast the resulting free-kick straight into the wall.

The Hornets’ rearguard did their job again six minutes later when the visitors were awarded a free-kick in another good position after another strange decision from the referee, but, again, Barry Robson’s left-footed set piece was comfortably repelled.

And that was it for another impressive and dominant first-half display that saw the Hornets head for the dressing room to a thoroughly deserved standing ovation.

The visitors, doubtless with a rather large flea in their collective ear from Gordon Strachan, reappeared for the second half a good four minutes before their opponents. They also made a change at the interval, with record-breaking former Rangers striker Kris Boyd coming on for Halliday and switched to a 4-4-2 formation.

But it was the Hornets who started the second period the better, although they had Loach to thank for not conceding in the 49th minute when he made a fine block to deny O’Neil, who had been left completely unmarked at the far post to connect with Robson’s cross from the left.

Mutch had the home side’s first attempt after the break, with a 25-yard effort that drifted wide, before Strachan made his second change in the 55th minute, with Tony McMahon replacing Bates.

And it was the substitute who denied Watford a fourth goal in the 62nd minute when he made an excellent challenge on Sordell, who looked set to go round Steele after a mazy run at the heart of the Boro defence had taken him past two opponents.

Both sides made a change four minutes later, with Stephen McGinn replacing Buckley, while Kink came on for Lita.

Graham saw a long-range effort deflected through to the keeper soon after, but the game had, by this stage, deteriorated as a spectacle, with Watford easily in command.

Troy Deeney came on for Sordell in the 74th minute and then Loach made a routine stop from a speculative Wheater effort.

But Boro were able to celebrate their first away league goal of the season four minutes later, even though it was scored by a Watford defender.

McDonald did well to wriggle free in the area before hitting a rising drive from the right edge of the six-yard box that Loach parried up in the air and the unfortunate Mariappa, in trying to clear and under pressure from McManus, could only head into his own net to make it 3-1. Loach was then booked for kicking the ball away.

However, the three-goal cushion was almost restored with six minutes remaining when an excellent ball forward from John Eustace put Graham in goal-side of the defence, but the striker fired over the top.

That was to be the striker’s last involvement as he was replaced by another Boro old boy, Josh Walker, for the last five minutes Watford: Loach; Hodson, Mariappa, M Taylor, Doyley; Eustace; Cowie, Mutch, Buckley (McGinn 66); Sordell (Deeney 74), Graham (Walker 86). Not used: Gilmartin, Bryan, Whichelow and Oshodi.

Middlesbrough: Steele; Bates (McMahon 55), Wheater, McManus, Arca; McDonald, O’Neil, Tavares, Robson, Halliday (Boyd 46); McDonald, Lita (Kink 66). Not used: Bailey, Coyne, Williams and Hines.

Bookings: Hodson for a foul on Halliday after 33 mins; Loach for dissent after 78 mins.

Attendance: 12,185.

Referee: Fred Graham.