Watford missed a penalty as Wolves maintained the pressure on Birmingham City with a 3-2 success.
Gray bags winner following Smith's penalty miss
Watford missed a penalty as Wolves maintained the pressure on Birmingham City with a thrilling 3-2 success.
Chris Iwelumo opened the scoring early on, but Grzegorz Rasiak levelled matters for the home side at Vicarage Road.
John-Joe O'Toole cancelled out David Jones' free-kick, but they missed the chance to take the lead when Tommy Smith lashed a penalty over the crossbar.
The miss proved crucial as experienced left-back Michael Gray bagged the all-important winner 11 minutes later as Wolves edged a five-goal thriller.
Mick McCarthy's men proved their determination to regain their former place at the Championship's summit when they took the lead inside 57 seconds.
Iwelumo latched on to Sylvan Ebanks-Blake's cross from the right to leave the home contingent open-mouthed.
He nearly made it two after eight minutes but his strike from 18 yards was claimed by Watford goalkeeper Richard Lee.
Battled back
The home side battled back into the contest, though, and got their reward after 21 minutes when Carl Ikeme could only parry Will Hoskins' tame drive from 25 yards.
Rasiak ran in and knocked the ball over the line from two yards out.
Iwelumo and Hoskins both fired shots wide after 27 minutes as Wolves attempted to restore their advantage.
They got their chance six minutes before the break when Watford's Leigh Bromby fouled Iwelumo 25 yards from goal.
Jones stepped up and bent a stunning left-footed free-kick around the wall and just inside the post.
The Hornets came out with a sting in their tail after the interval and needed just a minute and a half to get back on level terms.
Wicked free-kick
Smith floated in a wicked free-kick from the left and O'Toole met it with the faintest of touches at the far post to make it 2-2.
The Hornets were then handed a golden opportunity to lead for the first time as Jones brought down O'Toole in the box on the hour mark.
Smith stepped forward with the penalty but blazed it spectacularly over the bar.
Wolves made Hornets pay for their wastefulness after 71 minutes when Bromby failed to deal with Michael Kightly's ball from the right and Gray stole in to put them ahead.
O'Toole nearly brought Watford level again after 78 minutes but his shot from Lionel Ainsworth's cross was cleared off the line by Jason Shackell.
Jobi McAnuff also had a strike stopped at close range by Kevin Foley and although the Hornets flew forward in their droves they were unable to save their three-match unbeaten run on home turf.
