Watford ended Wrexham’s unbeaten run away from home in the calendar year with a 3-1 win to keep pressure on the Sky Bet Championship play-off places.
Marc Bola and Edo Kayembe put the Hornets in control before Max Cleworth pulled one back for Wrexham, and Edoardo Bove wrapped up the victory with a stoppage-time rebound for his first Watford goal.
Watford made four changes from the Stoke defeat, bringing in Mattie Pollock, Luca Kjerrumgaard, Nestory Irankunda and Pierre Ekwah, who made his full debut. Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson made one change, selecting Ryan Longman for Issa Kabore.
Kjerrumgaard headed wide from a Bola cross early on and Giorgi Chakvetadze rattled the crossbar with a curling effort on 11 minutes. The opener came on 18 minutes as Chakvetadze drove from his own half and backheeled to Bola, who finished past Arthur Okonkwo. Wrexham protested when Ollie Rathbone went down in the Watford area, but no penalty was given.
Watford doubled their lead on 37 minutes when Irankunda’s run down the right set up Kayembe, who had enough space to strike from just outside the area. Irankunda then almost scored with a first-half stoppage-time volley that narrowly missed.
Early in the second half Wrexham got a lifeline when Cleworth turned in a Rathbone corner. Wrexham pressed for an equaliser, forcing Pollock to clear Dominic Hyam’s header off the line from a Lewis O’Brien corner, and later denying Cleworth with another goal-line clearance.
As six minutes were added, Wrexham pushed hard but could not find the leveller. A Bola shot crashed off the crossbar and substitute Edoardo Bove reacted quickest to turn in the rebound and secure the win for Watford.
Watford boss Ed Still praised the response after recent dropped points, saying he was “delighted with the result and the performance” and that Bove deserved his goal. Parkinson felt his side dominated the second half and had control, but admitted the ball “didn’t drop” for them despite improvements after the break.