Jim Magilton finally broke his Sheffield Wednesday goalscoring duck to seal the point which could preserve his side's Premiership status for next season.

There were fears around Hillsborough that this season would be 1990 revisited.

Wednesday went into the Easter break in exactly the same position as they did in 1990 when they were last relegated under current boss Ron Atkinson.

The club occupied 13th place, had played the same number of games, had the same number of points and many people thought they were safe then.

But they lost five of the last six, eventually going down on the last day of the season, and following Saturday's 2-1 defeat against Barnsley it appeared as if an old ghost was set to come back to haunt them.

The nerves could clearly be heard jangling around Hillsborough when Israeli international Eyal Berkovic scored a simple seventh minute goal to take his tally to nine for the season.

And with the Hammers looking to consolidate seventh place and with it a place in Europe, it was a lead they held onto until just before the hour.

After a £1.5million move from Southampton in September, 20 appearances for the Owls and many recent afternoons sat keeping the bench warm, Magilton ended his Wednesday goal drought.

Making his first start since January 26, the Northern Ireland international midfielder drilled home a 20-yard drive into the bottom right hand corner after the chance seemed to have gone when Petter Rudi got the ball stuck under his feet following Andy Hinchcliffe's byline pull back.

It was a deserved equaliser as the two Italians, Benito Carbone and Paolo Di Canio - skippering the side for the second successive game in the absence of the suspended Peter Atherton - had been at the heart of virtually every move the Owls mustered, particularly during a second period when Harry Redknapp's side barely ventured out of their own half.

But that coveted seventh place has now slipped from their grasp after Derby's hammering of Bolton, yet it could have been theirs for the taking if chances in the opening 45 minutes had been grabbed.

They did capture the lead though when leading scorer John Hartson and Steve Lomas combined to set up Berkovic, who stabbed the ball home into the bottom left hand corner past the despairing dive of keeper Kevin Pressman.

Just four minutes earlier that lead should have belonged to the Owls, but it took a brilliant clearing header off the line from Ian Pearce after David Unsworth had initially made a meal of a simple clearance from the edge of his area.

His up-and-under put keeper Bernard Lama under pressure, with the former French international failing to collect, allowing Yugoslav Dejan Stefanovic to rifle a 12-yard left-foot half-volley goalwards, only for Pearce to produce a flying interception.

After Berkovic struck, it was then Wednesday left-back Hinchcliffe's turn to produce a goal-denying, goal-line clearance in the 14th minute.

Stan Lazaridis swung over a corner for an unmarked Samassi Abou to power in a bullet header bound for inside the left-hand post, but England international Hinchcliffe swung an instinctive left boot to hack away.

But with the re-introduction into the starting line-up of Carbone, who was benched for the defeat at Barnsley, Wednesday always looked dangerous in attack.

Earl Barrett's right wing cross picked out Carbone on the edge of the six yard box, but with his back to goal and from such an acute angle, he produced a spectacular overhead kick which flashed past Lama and across the face of goal.

It was Carbone again who had the next chance in the 34th minute, latching onto a through ball from Norwegian international Rudi - back in the side after five games out with a hamstring injury - and forcing Lama into a save low to his left from a first time shot from 15 yards.

Wednesday's domination, with Di Canio clearly pumped up but his pride at wearing the skipper's armband ensuring he remained in control, eventually paid off with Magilton the player wearing the biggest smile.

Teams

Sheff Wed: Pressman, Walker, Carbone, Booth, Di Canio, Stefanovic, Hinchcliffe, Thome, Magilton, Rudi (Pembridge 85), Barrett.

Subs Not Used: Whittingham, Clarke, Humphreys, Oakes.

Booked: Stefanovic, Barrett.

Goals: Magilton 59.

West Ham: Lama, Unsworth, Hartson, Lomas, Ferdinand, Lazaridis, Lampard, Pearce, Impey, Abou (Omoyimni 75), Berkovic.

Subs Not Used: Potts, Moncur, Forrest, Mean.

Goals: Berkovic 7.

Att: 28,036

Ref: N S Barry (Scunthorpe).