On a bitterly cold evening in the east end, West Ham at last got the result they needed to send everyone home a little warmer and with a little more hope in their heart.

It would be wrong to suggest that the Hammers turned on the style and brushed aside Birmingham, but the midlanders gave a good account of why they are sitting comfortably in mid-table and, once they had gone ahead, the home side showed the type of form that has eluded them for most of this season as a goal in each half from Diamanti and then Cole enabled the Irons to take three valuable points from a match they had to win.

Oddly, the Match of the Day highlights seemed to centre on early Birmingham posession, but this gave a false sense to the proceedings as the visitors only had two shots on target all night and, in fact, it was West Ham who looked more formidable with Cole and Mido in determined mood up front. It was Mido who headed wide early on when a Faubert cross found him unmarked but defender Tomkins who came closest with a 20-yard drive that Hart did well to save.

Birmingham were back in it when Green was forced to punch away a Carr cross with the Hammers defence looking panicky but Diamanti calmed the nerves shortly after when a dipping shot was tipped over the bar by the excellent Birmingham keeper Joe Hart. A Cole opportunity was sandwiched between chances for Jereome and Phillips as the game opened up but, even so, it looked a goalless first half until a surging Scott Parker run was ended by a Scott Dann foul for which the visitor was rightly booked. From the resulting free kick on the edge of the area, Diamanti curled a beautiful free kick in and promptly ran to the touchline along with his team-mates to celebrate with delighted manager Zola. As a comment to the new owners of the club who had made some poorly timed remarks that Zola felt was unwise, it could not have been a better tribute.

Diamanti continued in style after the break and sent in a shot from distance that Hart handled easily when he might have done better to go on but it was still the Hammers who were in the ascendancy obviously gaining confidence as the game wore on. When Faubert broke and put in an excellent cross from the by-line for Cole to head in at close range in the 67th minute, it calmed the nerves even more. Birmingham came back late on to try and salvage something from the game but West Ham were not to be denied and gave the new owners a sweet victory over the club they used to own.

So tight at the bottom of the table is it at the moment that the win powered the Hammers up to 14th; more importantly though it was a statement that there is still some way to go in this league and, though there is a daunting set of away fixtures coming up, there are enough opportunities at home to offer encouragment.