West Ham United chalked up its first win of the season with a determined performance against Birmingham City at St Andrews Stadium on Saturday.

A Mark Noble penalty in the 70th minute was enough for Alan Curbishley's men to secure their first points of the new season. Noble was by far the best player on the pitch for West Ham and had earlier come close to scoring from open play, but his effort ricocheted off the post.

A poor first half was highlighted by boos from the Birmingham faithful each time Matthew Upson touched the ball. Upson left Birmingham City in January under controversial circumstances. West Ham saw a penalty appeal dismissed early in the game after Stephen Kelly looked to have unfairly blocked debutant Kieron Dyer.

Noble had a great chance to break the deadlock in the 25th minute, but his free kick attempt slid under the wall before smashing against the foot of the post. Both the teams struggled to create any real chances in a half that was often broken up by frequent fouls.

West Ham upped their play in the second half as the game slowly started to open up. Noble continued to impress in the second half, dashing on a great run to the byline before squaring the ball to Craig Bellamy. However the Welsh striker only managed to hit Ridgewell and the ball went out of the play.

West Ham finally took the lead in the 70th minute when referee Mark Halsey awarded a penalty to the visitors after Bellamy was brought down in the box by a tackle from Colin Doyle. Noble made no mistake in converting the chance to give his team the lead.

Birmingham had a late chance through a free kick but Gary McSheffrey's effort was blocked by Robert Green. With the hosts unable to create any chances, West Ham romped home to claim their first win of the season.

Birmingham will be looking for its first victory of the campaign when it faces Derby County on Saturday while West Ham play high flying Wigan Athletic. Watch Premiership football live on free-football.tv.