Sheffield Wednesday climbed out of the relegation zone after a 1-1 draw with Plymouth Argyle.
Late equaliser denies Sturrock win on return to Hillsborough
Sheffield Wednesday climbed out of the Championship relegation zone after a 1-1 draw with Plymouth Argyle at Hillsborough.
Peter Halmosi's deflected free-kick put the Pilgrims into an early lead, but the Owls staged a stirring late rally to claim a point inside the final 10 minutes through Tommy Spurr.
The seventh straight draw for the Owls dumps Leicester City into the bottom three, while the result probably ends former Wednesday manager Paul Sturrock's hopes of leading Plymouth into the play-offs.
Plymouth enjoyed a dream start by taking the lead inside the opening two minutes when Halmosi's free-kick from 25 yards took a wicked deflection off Deon Burton and left Owls keeper Lee Grant with no chance of preventing the ball from looping into the net.
Wednesday responded positively and should have been level on eight minutes, but Burton could only stab Jermaine Johnson's low cross wide of the target.
Johnson was a constant threat on the right-hand side and he lashed one effort wide of the upright, while on-loan striker Ben Sahar saw his curling attempt parried by Luke McCormick.
The hosts dominated for long spells, but were struggling to create any clear-cut chances, with Johnson sending a fiercely-struck volley wide of goal.
In the final minute of the half, Burton's deflected free-kick ricocheted into Sahar's path, but the Israeli was unable to poke the ball past McCormick.
The half-time break appeared to take much of the wind out of Wednesday's sails and they were unable to conjure up anything of note in the opening stages of the second period.
Indeed, Plymouth could have extended their lead on 57 minutes when Jermaine Easter darted on to Steven MacLean's flick-on and forced a fine low save out of Grant.
Former Wednesday striker MacLean then had an optimistic shout for a penalty fall on deaf ears after tangling with Mark Beevers in the area.
The home side gradually picked up the pace and winger Franck Songo'o tested McCormick with a curling free-kick from 25 yards on 74 minutes.
Wednesday, who had drawn their previous six matches, slowly turned the screw and came close to an equaliser on 79 minutes when Burton's glancing header produced a superb one-handed stop from McCormick.
Within 60 seconds, substitute Wade Small smashed a low shot across the face of goal before the Owls made their pressure pay with the equaliser on 81 minutes.
A deep free-kick was headed as far as Spurr, who was 25 yards from goal, and he struck a precision volley which McCormick could only help into the net.
Small and substitute Jamie Mackie traded chances late on, but neither side could muster an all-important winner.
