A FIRST-HALF goal from Bobby Zamora gave West Ham a precious lifeline in their battle to avoid relegation.

Zamora despatched a 25yard shot into the top corner in the 13th minute to give West Ham renewed hope that manager Alan Curbishley can still work a minor miracle at Upton Park.

Curbishley had called on his side to win three out of their last four fixtures and the first objective was achieved with a mixture of grim determination and attacking flair.

After the disappointment of their midweek defeat by champions Chelsea, it was no surprise then that West Ham started the better of the two sides.

In the third minute, Zamora just failed to make the most of a neat flick by Lucas Neill as the home side tried to engineer an early breakthrough.

West Ham's reward for their positive start arrived in the 13th minute when Zamora took a pass from Yossi Benayoun in his stride and unleashed a 25-yard shot into the top corner.

But in the 19th minute West Ham had a narrow escape when James Collins just cleared off the toes of James Beattie when the Everton striker looked certain to score from six yards.

It was the spark for Everton's best spell of the game but the Merseysiders lacked an outlet with Andrew Johnson having gone off injured early on.

Despite that though, West Ham soon regained their composure and indeed should have capitalised on numerous chances to seal a second.

In the end though, Zamora's early goal proved enough.