Ollie Rathbone came off the bench to score in the second minute of stoppage time and earn Wrexham a 2-2 draw against Watford at Stok Cae Ras, on a night when neither side could quite seize control of a finely balanced promotion push. The substitute, making his first league appearance of the season after a lengthy injury lay-off, rifled home from the edge of the area just as Watford seemed certain to leave with a rare away league victory.
Josh Windass had earlier given Phil Parkinson's side a first-half lead, only for Mamadou Doumbia's deflected strike and Othmane Maamma's close-range finish to turn the game in Watford's favour before the interval. But Wrexham's late onslaught, roared on by a packed crowd and owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, eventually told as Rathbone's dramatic equaliser extended their unbeaten home league run to eight matches and avoided a second successive defeat after midweek disappointment at Hull.
For Watford, who had travelled still looking for just a second away league win of the campaign, it was a bitter conclusion after long spells of promise. First-half goals from Doumbia and Maamma had appeared enough to secure all three points, yet their failure to convert early second-half pressure into a decisive third left the door open for Wrexham to snatch a point.
Windass Ignites the Contest in Front of the Owners