Sheffield Wednesday were held to a draw by a resilient Luton defence, who picked up just their fifth away point of the season.
Despite throwing everything at the game in the second half, Wednesday were unable to find a way past Thomas Kaminski in the Luton goal from open play.
The Owls came into the game knowing they could move level on points with 6th placed West Bromwich Albion with a win, while Luton were desperate to climb out of the drop zone.
The first twenty minutes saw little chances and a relatively even contest between the two sides, but as the half wore on, the visitors began to put more and more forward pressure on the Wednesday backline, culminating in a sweet strike from Alfie Doughty after 31 minutes.
Wednesday’s best chance of the half would come after just nine minutes, when the ball landed awkwardly at the feet Jamal Lowe, but he was unable to get a shot off and the ball was safely collected by Kaminski in the Luton net.
The Luton winger picked up the ball 25 yards from goal and rifled the ball into the right corner, far beyond the reach of Wednesday keeper James Beadle.
The rest of the half petered out and there was little quality from either side, but this changed at half-time and Wednesday raced out of the gate in the second-half, going close first through Shea Charles, then Yan Valery, then Djeidi Gassama with the best chance of them all.
Gassama would get his reward for his hard work eventually, when a charging run from his home half led to him being hauled down just inside the penalty box, and a penalty being awarded to Wednesday.
Michael Smith, who had only just come on to the pitch a few minutes earlier, made no mistake and dispatched the ball just past Kaminski.
Wednesday continued to push for a winner, and had two golden chances in the space of two minutes, the first from Michael Smith’s shot, which was parried by Kaminski into the path of Josh Windass, who was just about unable to turn home.
Less than two minutes later, it was Windass’s turn to have the initial shot, which was parried again by Kaminski into the path of Gassama, but he was unale to convert and the ball trickled wide.
Wednesday continued to push, but they would have no better chances over the course of the remaining 25 minutes and the game would come to an end at 1-1, despite the best efforts of Josh Bowler, who could only put his shot wide on his Luton debut.
Following this afternoon’s result, Wednesday remain 10th but are now just two points outside the playoff positions after results elsewhere landed favourably for them.
Likewise, Luton are now just two points from safety, but remain on 23rd due to their inferior goal difference compared to Derby County. The Hatters have no game next weekend due to Plymouth’s progress in the FA Cup, and next play on Wednesday 12 February, when they travel to Sunderland.
Wednesday’s next match sees them travel to the Black Country to face West Bromwich Albion, in a 12:30 kick-off at The Hawthorns.
