Wrexham beaten by Stockport to lose ground in promotion race

Wrexham suffered their third league defeat of the season at Stockport County on Saturday as the Welsh side lost more ground in the race for automatic promotion from England's League One.

Louie Barry, on loan from Premier League side Aston Villa, scored in the 24th minute after he collected a bouncing ball on the edge of the penalty area before expertly curling in his 12th goal of the season.

Stockport dominated their Hollywood-owned visitors in the rest of the first half, with Callum Burton forced into several good saves to keep the deficit to just one.

Louie Barry scored the only goal of the game as Wrexham were beaten by Stockport.
Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images

Wrexham head coach Phil Parkinson turned to the considerable resources on his bench early in the second period, with Oliver Rathbone and Paul Mullin immediately helping to turn the tide of momentum as the team searched for an equaliser.

However, that search proved to be in vain as Stockport's resolute defence held out to earn an important win against the side they beat to top spot in League Two last season.

The result means Stockport are within a point of Wrexham, who remain third on 28 points. Birmingham are two points ahead of them and have two games in hand, while Wycombe Wanderers are top with 32 and also have an extra game to play.