Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac ‘lift the whole place’

Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac’s presence at Wrexham “lifts the whole place,” according to manager Phil Parkinson.

The Hollywood duo were in attendance at the Stok Cae Ras to see Oliver Rathbone’s stoppage-time equaliser earn a 2-2 draw against Watford.

Rathbone’s strike sparked wild celebrations and meant Parkinson’s side avoided a second successive Championship defeat days after the owners sold a minority stake to US private equity investors Apollo.

Parkinson said: “I’m so pleased for the owners, who lift the whole place when they are here and I spoke to them briefly before the game.

“There is a lot of positivity in the area with the new investment being announced and we’ve got to keep building on that and the spirit of the team was there for all to see today.”

Josh Windass gave Wrexham the lead in the 21st minute, finishing from a Matty James through ball.

But Watford duo Mamadou Doumbia and Othmane Maamma both scored before half-time to turn the game around.

Wrexham pressed in the second half, hitting the woodwork through Callum Doyle and seeing Dominic Hyam’s goal ruled out for offside, before Rathbone rescued a point.

Parkinson, whose side are now eight games unbeaten at home, added: “I’m so pleased for Ollie Rathbone.

“He’s had to wait to get his chance but he typifies everything we want here at Wrexham. His attitude is fantastic and he deserved that moment today.

“Ollie has played Championship football before and gave us the moment of calmness that we needed.

“We’d had a lot of good play and should have scored after the first goal, as we had some really good moments.

“But it was the split second of composure that Ollie has shown time-and-time-again that got us back in the game.

“The first goal knocked us, but we came out in the second half and responded well.

“When we were chasing the game like we were late on I thought we worked our way back into the game in a very controlled way.”

Watford boss Javi Gracia was sent to the stands for his protests after Wrexham’s equaliser, with the Hornets claiming they should have had a free-kick moments before they conceded.

Assistant manager Zigor Aranalde, who filled in for media duties, said: “It’s frustrating and the mistakes were there and the referee made a big mistake today and that has cost us.

“Everyone could see the free-kick he didn’t give us which led to the second goal.

“It was a clear foul, one of the clearest I’ve seen this season, but the referee didn’t give it and for me it’s a big mistake.

“It’s lucky for the referee that there is no VAR because that decision would be changed for sure. It’s embarrassing what happened before Wrexham’s second goal and that was the difference today.

“It’s a shame, it’s one point instead of three, but we’ve now only lost one in nine, so that is a positive.”