Peterborough United's fight against relegation was severely dented as Sheffield Wednesday withstood a late fightback from Mark Cooper's men to claim a third successive victory in the Coca-Cola Championship. 

Cooper handed Josh Simpson his first Football League start at Hillsborough with Paul Coutts not included in the 18 on duty against the Owls.

Goalkeeper Joe Lewis made a superb stop on eight minutes to deny a Tudgay volley from 20-yards as the Owls made a positive start to the relegation six-pointer at a packed Hillsborough.

Lewis Buxton was cautioned on 10 minutes for a foul on Scott Griffiths after a good overlapping run by the full-back.   A left-wing corner from Jake Livermore was headed wide by Reuben Reid at the back post as Posh got back into the game.

A huge throw from Geohaghon on 18 minutes picked out Reid at the back post, but he couldn't loop his header over goalkeeper Lee Grant, who made a comfortable claim. An injury to George Boyd curtailed the Posh progress and after lengthy treatement from physiotherapist Keith Oakes he was given the okay to resume on the left hand side of midfield, albeit gingerly.

The Owls were extremely close to the breakthrough on 33 minutes as a fierce Potter strike was deflected onto the crossbar by Livermore. Moments later, it was the home side breathing a sign of relief as Reid struck the top of the crossbar with a powerful header from a Livermore corner.

A quickly-taken free kick presented Charlie Lee with a shooting opportunity on 38 minutes, but he curled his effort well wide of the target.  

Simpson scuffed a shot wide on 42 minutes after Wednesday failed to clear a high ball forward. On the stroke of half-time, Lewis used all of his reach to tip over a towering header from Purse, who leapt above Griffiths at the back post.  

From the resulting set-piece, the Owls opened the scoring as a floating corner kick from the right was headed past Lewis at the near post by striker Marcus TUDGAY who flicked his header goal-wards among a sea of bodies.

Half-time: Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Posh

A quickly-taken free kick from George Boyd picked out McLeod two minutes after the re-start, but he couldn't keep his header down and goalkeeper Grant remained untroubled.

On-loan midfielder Livermore flashed a shot wide of the target after a long throw from Geohaghon was only half cleared by Purse.

If Posh were to take anything from this game, then they will be indebted to Scott Griffiths, the little left-back produced three superb blocks to deny Leon Clarke twice and then Tudgay as Owls came desperately close to a second goal.

Boyd was then withdrawn due to the injury sustained in the first period with Shaun Batt the man introduced into the fray. Purse glanced a header over Joe Lewis' crossbar on the hour mark after Griffiths was penalised harshly for handball.

Livermore was cautioned for a foul 'for the team' with Wednesday attacking on the break at pace. Leon Clarke screwed a shot wide after one long ball caught out the Posh defence, although Lee did well to get back and put the striker off.

The hosts made it 2-0 on 67 minutes as a corner kick was missed by Lewis at the near post under severe pressure and TUDGAY was given a simple task of nodding the ball into an empty net at the back post.

Highly-rated shot-stopper Lee Grant made a superb save to deny a Griffith's half volley on 74 minutes with the left-back's effort going through a crowd of players, making it extremely difficult for the Owls number one.

Grant had to be alert agains moments later to push away a Batt effort before Posh did pull a goal back as Wednesday failed to clear the ball and LIVERMORE fired low past Grant to halve the deficit.

Lee volleyed wide of the target after Purse directed his header to the edge of the area where the Posh defender was waiting as Posh pressed in the latter stages to try and find a way back into proceedings.

Mark Cooper's men were now dominating the game and substitute Aaron Mclean saw a snapshot saved by Grant as the hosts were struggling to clear their lines.Griffiths saw an ambitious 30-yard effort saved by Grant before Chris Whelpdale was introduced from the substitute bench.

Three minutes of added time were signalled and it wasn't to be enough for plucky Posh who were going to run out of time to salvage anything from the match. A last minute corner allowed Joe Lewis to go up for the set-piece, but it was cleared.   

Final Score: Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 Posh

Sheffield Wednesday: Grant, Spurr, Buxton, Purse, Tudgay, Potter, Beevers, O'Connor, Clarke (sub Varney 70min), Soares, Gray. Subs: Jameson, Hinds, McAllister, Sodje, Esajas, Simek.

Posh: Lewis, Geohaghon, Gilbert, Lee, Griffiths, Boyd (sub Batt 55min), Reid (sub Whelpdale 88min), Simpson, Livermore, Mackail-Smith, McLeod (sub Mclean 69min). Unused subs: McKeown, Williams, Rowe, Frecklington.

Referee: David Foster
Attendance: 24,882