West Ham 1 Swansea 0 - A HUGE 3 points!

Bloody hell, we needed that. Swansea were unbeaten in seven and had beaten Chelsea over two legs without conceding anything more than a ball boy, so certainly were no soft touches, but anything less than a win today would have seen us knee deep in the relegation mire. Now, it barely touches our ankles thanks to Everton's and Wigan's late equalisers and the 0-0 draw between QPR and  Norwich. Villa next week is huge, but QPR are as good as gone and Norwich still don't know where their next win is going to come from so we can all breath a little easier.

Of course, those two home grown yard dogs, Noble and Tomkins, will receive no credit from their critics, but it was a Noble corner - for some reason he has displaced Joe Cole and Taylor on set piece duty again - that set up Carroll for a thumping header whilst Tomkins was a commanding figure at the back, with Jussi rarely called into action.

In truth, we should have won by a more comfortable margin. Carroll had one effort saved by Tremmell's legs and put another great chance over. Diame also made a hash of two reasonable opportunities, whilst Nolan forced two good saves in the first half and Vaz Te called the German into action either side of the break. Meanwhile a wicked Joe Cole cross from the left should have been buried but Vaz Te failed to connect.

At the other end Jussi made a couple of half decent saves but even with Taylor as a makeshift left back, the defence coped well. Swansea passed and passed and passed but too often forgot to penetrate the box, and Allardyce will love the possession to shots count after this one! Vindication he will claim! And give him his due, we always looked the more likely to score and win.

There are still concerns looking forward. Carroll was excellent today but Jarvis was again desperately disappointing and all but the blinkered will see why Arsenal and Spurs decided not to stump up for Diame. Yes he is a bull but his ball control and vision are not really top drawer, and his finishing is woeful.

Those on Noble watch might have noticed how many passes he completed, that he assisted the winning goal, and that he put in a fantastic block in the first half to prevent a Pablo cross that would almost certainly have led to a Swansea opening goal. Oh, and who was that running the ball clear deep into injury time, only to be fouled by a desperate Chico? No surely not that carthorse Mark Noble?

Player ratings: Jussi 6; O'Brien 7, Tomkins 7, Reid 7, Taylor 5; Noble 7 Diame 6; Jarvis 3, Nolan 7, Vax Te 6; Carroll 9 Subs: Cole 6, O'Neil 5, Pogatetz (Didn't touch the ball!)