A spectacular long-range strike from Tommy Spurr lifted Sheffield Wednesday out of the Coca-Cola Championship relegation zone but the Owls remain deep in the mire after being held to a seventh consecutive draw by Plymouth on Monday night.

Full-back Spurr smashed in a precious goal 10 minutes from time just as it looked as if Plymouth would consign the Owls to a costly defeat.

A wickedly-deflected free-kick from Peter Halmosi in the second minute stunned Hillsborough into silence and the visitors looked set for three points which would have taken them to within three of sixth-placed Crystal Palace until Spurr's stunning late leveller.

The point elevated Wednesday two places into 20th, with Leicester dropping into the bottom three and Coventry dropping a place to 21st.

Plymouth boss Paul Sturrock was given an excellent reception by the Wednesday faithful before kick-off, having guided the South Yorkshire club into the Championship via the play-offs in his first season at the helm back in 2005.

But any sentiment was put to one side when the visitors stunned Brian Laws' side by taking the lead in the second minute.

Hungary midfielder Halmosi lined up a free-kick 22 yards from goal and his left-foot strike was deflected off the unfortunate Deon Burton and looped into the far corner of the net, giving the wrong-footed Lee Grant no chance.

The home side gradually began to impose themselves on the game and Jermaine Johnson fired wide at the near post before Ben Sahar played in Burton, who was denied by some excellent anticipation from Plymouth goalkeeper Luke McCormick.

Wednesday had an excellent opportunity to restore parity after 22 minutes when Adam Bolder raced clear but failed to find Sahar with a poor cross, which was intercepted by the retreating Paul Connolly.

Bolder was brought down by Russell Anderson on the edge of the penalty area four minutes later, but Burton fired the resulting free-kick wildly over the crossbar.

On-loan midfielder Bolder was in the thick of the action and he wasted a clear-cut chance to equalise just before half-time, skewing the ball wide from 10 yards out.

Laws would have no doubt demanded a vast improvement from his struggling side after the break, but it was Plymouth who looked the more likely to add to the scoring in the opening stages of the second half.

Jermaine Easter was proving to be a handful for the Owls defence and Grant had to be alert to deny the Wales striker from 10 yards out as the Wednesday supporters held their breath.

Wednesday were devoid of ideas and a lack of quality with the final ball starved Sahar and Burton of service.

Laws looked to the substitutes' bench to freshen things up, with Bartosz Slusarski and Wade Small replacing the ineffective Johnson and Sahar.

Sturrock's decision to replace the more attack-minded Halmosi with Chris Clark signified his intention to shut up shop.

Wednesday substitute Small came close to a precious equaliser when his well-executed free-kick was tipped round the post by the agile McCormick as the home fans' frustration mounted.

McCormick produced another good save 12 minutes from time to keep out a Burton header, before the unmarked Small flashed a shot wide of the target.

But Wednesday finally drew level 10 minutes from time when a headed clearance was chested down by Spurr, who thumped an unstoppable left-foot drive past McCormick from fully 35 yards out, much to the relief of the majority of a 20,635 crowd.

Teams:

Sheff Wed Grant, Gilbert, Beevers, Wood, Spurr, Johnson (Small 64), O'Brien, Bolder, Songo'o, Sahar (Slusarski 64), Burton.

Subs Not Used: Burch, McMenamin, Wallwork.

Booked: Burton, Gilbert.

Goals: Spurr 81.

Plymouth McCormick, Connolly, Timar, Anderson, Sawyer, Halmosi (Clark 65), Abdou, Nalis, Paterson (Fallon 90), MacLean (Mackie 86), Easter.

Subs Not Used: Doumbe, Summerfield.

Booked: Anderson, Nalis.

Goals: Halmosi 2.

Att: 20,635

Ref: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire).