Former Wednesday loanee Dean Windass snapped at the hand that once fed as his Hull side beat the Owls at the KC Stadium on Sunday.
Substitute Windass fired the only goal of the game with a perfectly weighted first half free kick to send SWFC into 2008 embroiled in a relegation dogfight.
Returning striker Akpo Sodje came close to snatching a point for the visitors but the 32nd minute hit from Windass proved enough to seal victory for the Tigers.
Brian Laws made two changes from the side that stored a point at Burnley on Boxing Day. Wade Small and Steve Watson, who picked up hamstring injuries during the Clarets clash, both failed to make the cut. Hitman Sodje returned to make his first appearance since the draw at Southampton in early December, while Yoann Folly was recalled to the engine room. Meanwhile, Francis Jeffers - sidelined for more than two months with ankle ligament damage - handed Laws a major boost by taking a place on the substitutes bench.
Wednesday enjoyed the better of the early exchanges but could have fallen behind when Hull launched their first attack of the game. Caleb Folan burst through from the halfway line and rode two challenges before a perfectly timed tackle from Mark Beevers prevented the bustling striker pulling the trigger as he advanced on Lee Grant.
Hull loanee Fraizer Campbell then broke free down the middle but a poor first touch from the Manchester United youngster allowed Beevers and Richard Hinds to sprint back and thwart the danger.
After a bright opening, the game lost its spark a little, although the introduction of ex-Owl Windass for Campbell on 23 minutes promised to liven up proceedings. Bryan Hughes almost responded but his curling effort from distance went past the left post as well as Grant.
Folly forced a corner during a rare moment of Wednesday pressure before the Tigers roared into the lead thirteen minutes before half time. And predictably, it was Windass that did the damage to his former employers. Tommy Spurr conceded a contentious free kick 25 yards out and up stepped the veteran frontman to thump an unstoppable shot that dipped over Grant and nestled into the top right-hand corner.
Neither side made a change at the break and the Owls came out flying, almost gaining their reward just two minutes after the restart. Sodje picked up a loose ball on the right side of the penalty area and his angled drive beat Boaz Myhill but alas for Wednesday struck the inside of the keeper's post and bounced out to safety.
Laws' side had more zip about their game in the early throes of the second period but failed to capitalise in terms of creating chances. Hull, though, posed little threat at the other end and Michael Turner's header that forced Grant into a comfortable save down to his left on the hour was their first effort of the half.
The Owls made a double substitution on 68 minutes; Etienne Esajas and Jeffers replacing Folly and Deon Burton as the visitors went in search of at least a point.
Esajas showed his credentials in an instant with a jinking run that took him past two defenders before feeding Marcus Tudgay on the edge of the box but the striker's shot was charged down by Hull skipper Ian Ashbee.
The contest was bereft of goalmouth action as it drew towards the closing stages, save a looping header from Windass that narrowly missed the target.
Wednesday enjoyed neat pockets of possession but one Jeffers effort aside from Glenn Whelan's feed, Myhill remained untroubled between the Hull sticks and the Owls headed home with just a single point to show from their three festive fixtures so far.
Hull: Myhill, Dawson, Ashbee (c), Turner, Hughes, Garcia, Brown, Folan (Barmby 80), Ricketts, Livermore, Campbell (Windass 23, Delaney 89)
Unused subs: Duke, Marney
SWFC: Grant, Bullen (c), Hinds, Beevers, Spurr, Tudgay, Whelan, Folly (Esajas 68), O'Brien, Burton (Jeffers 68), Sodje
Unused subs: Burch, Gilbert, Lunt
Referee: Mr M. Jones
Attendance: 21,256
