Ollie Rathbone struck in the second minute of added time as Wrexham salvaged a point against Watford.

Josh Windass notched his sixth goal of the season to give the hosts an early lead at the Stok Cae Ras.

Mamadou Doumbia and Othmane Maamma struck before half time as Watford looked on course for just a second away league victory of the season.

But substitute Rathbone - who had only been on the pitch for two minutes - levelled in the final stages as Phil Parkinson's men extended their unbeaten run at home in the league to eight matches.

Watford drop to 13th in the table, one place and a point above Wrexham.

Having made five changes from the 2-0 loss to Hull City in midweek, Wrexham's freshness showed early on as Windass clipped the outside of the post from a free-kick after Max Cleworth blazed over minutes earlier.

Watford's best opening fell to Luca Kjerrumgaard who could only drill into the side netting.

But Wrexham's positive start was rewarded on 21 minutes as Matty James' lofted ball over the top found Windass who fired across goal and beyond Egil Selvik.

Their lead lasted just nine minutes though as Doumbia's shot from just outside the 18-yard the box struck Cleworth before going in via the underside of the crossbar - his third goal of the season.

The game became somewhat ill-tempered in the latter stages of the opening half as Kieffer Moore escaped with a booking for a challenge on Mattie Pollock.

The Hornets then took the lead as captain Imran Louza's chipped cross found Marc Bola whose blocked effort trickled into the path of Maamma who beat Arthur Okonkwo from close range.

It was the home fans who were then calling for a sending off following Bola's strong challenge on Ryan Longman, although the left-back, like Moore, was yellow carded.

Wrexham came agonisingly close to equalising on the stroke of half time, but Callum Doyle could only head on to the crossbar, with Lewis O'Brien twice missing the target in added time.

Watford started the second half on the front foot, with Okonkwo denying Kjerrumgaard before Doumbia's follow-up effort was blocked.

The home side started to dominate possession though, with their best opening falling to Longman who nodded wide at the back post from James McClean's cross - with Moore heading wide soon after.

Shortly after Windass' deflected strike flew narrowly wide, Wrexham thought they had levelled when the ball went in via Doumbia, although Nathan Broadhead and Ben Sheaf were offside in the build-up.

But Wrexham levelled in the final stages as Watford could only clear Windass' corner to Rathbone who rifled beyond Selvik on what was his first league outing of the season following a lengthy spell out through injury.

Substitute Ryan Hardie almost won it at the death, but he blazed over as the points were shared.

With Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac in attendance, it felt inevitable that the contest was due something of a Hollywood ending.

Having sanctioned 13 signings in the summer transfer window, the majority owners were to witness a man who had joined the club a year earlier having the final say on proceedings.

It was fitting that Rathbone was the man to bag the equaliser following his lengthy spell out with the injury he sustained during pre-season.

Crucially, it ensured Wrexham did not lose back-to-back league games for the first time since the opening two matches of the season.

As for Watford, their away struggles continue.

They have won just once on the road in the Championship this term and almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when Wrexham pushed late on.

Still, a point sees Watford go three games unbeaten, although boss Javi Gracia will be devastated that it was not a more rewarding afternoon for his troops in north Wales.

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson:

"I felt we worked our way back into the game in a very controlled way.

"We changed the shape two or three times in the game and the lads adapted to that really well.

"Of course we'd love to have won it but I felt the performance was decent."

Watford assistant manager Zigor Aranalde:

"The referee made a mistake, and we drew the game because of that mistake.

"Credit to the lads, they never gave up, in a difficult situation we managed to come back.

"In the second half we had the game more or less under control until those last five minutes. That's life, we have to carry on."