Wrexham strengthened their grip on a Championship play-off place with a 2-1 victory over Portsmouth at Stok Cae Ras, surviving a fierce second-half fightback after racing into a two-goal lead before the interval. Sam Smith and Max Cleworth both found the net with headers to put the hosts seemingly in control, only for Zak Swanson's deflected strike early in the second half to set up a tense finale.
The result maintains Wrexham's position in sixth, opening up a four-point gap over seventh-placed Southampton and making it back-to-back league wins for Phil Parkinson's side. It also means the Red Dragons have taken four points from their two meetings with Pompey this season, having drawn 0-0 in November, while John Mousinho's men missed the chance to record three successive away league victories for the first time since midway through their title-winning 2023-24 League One campaign.
Headers give Red Dragons early control
Both teams showed attacking intent in the early stages. Within the first minute George Dobson fired wide from the edge of the area for Wrexham, while at the other end Millenic Alli twice drove in dangerous low crosses and Gustavo Caballero had a shot blocked before leading another charge that broke down on the edge of the area. From a slick Wrexham counter-attack, left wing-back George Thomason produced the clearest opening of that spell, only for Portsmouth goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid to stand tall and save well.