WEST HAM UNITED 1, Wanderers 2: Jussi Jaaskelainen had more on his mind than football after taking care of business at Upton Park.

The Mighty Finn's top priority was to ensure he did not have to rush back to Bolton, where his wife, Tessa, is due to give birth at any time.

Then, once assured that the waiting car was not required, he turned his thoughts to his other passion, emerging from the dressing room and checking out the latest state of play in the fourth Ashes Test.

They don't play cricket in Finland, but in his eight years with Wanderers, Jaaskelainen has become a keen follower of the game.

"I've really got into it over the past two or three years," he said. "Sometimes it lasts a bit too long, but I like the good bits. It's a decent game."

The more important matter of the birth of his third child will keep Jaaskelainen out of Finland's World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Macedonia. But no one can deny he deserves a break after his heroics in East London, where his catalogue of saves proved vital as Wanderers recorded their first top flight win at West Ham for 41 years.

"The baby could come any time in the next two weeks, so I have to stay home and look after my wife and two boys," he said.

"If the baby comes in the next day or two, I'll go. If not, I'll stay here."

Jaaskelainen was characteristically modest about his personal performance but, without his saves and the wayward finishing of Hammers striker Marlon Harewood, Wanderers might not be sitting quite so pretty today with seven points from four games.

Nevertheless, after the injustices they suffered at Aston Villa and at home to Everton, there was no shame in finally getting the rub of the green.

"It's always nice getting three points," Jaaskelainen said, "especially when you don't necessarily deserve them. We probably deserved all nine points from the first three games but we didn't get them."

For Sam Allardyce and the Whites it was a happy end to one of the most eventful and satisfying weeks of their Premiership lives.

Sore at losing their first home game to Everton last Sunday, having dominated the game, they responded magnificently by beating Newcastle on Wednesday, cast aside doubts over the futures of key players Jay Jay Okocha and Stelios and, on Friday, featured in their first ever UEFA Cup draw - a truly historic moment.

Twenty-four hours later they were giving Premiership newcomers, West Ham, a lesson in the harsh realities of life in the top flight.

The Hammers were full of it after taking four points from their first two games, but, as Wanderers have discovered to their cost, if you don't take your chances, the Premiership can be a cruel place.

No one knows that now more than the hapless Harewood, who missed the target twice in the first half, when it really was easier to score.

Fortunate though they may have been, Wanderers still managed to look an accomplished and experienced Premiership side.

In Jaaskelainen they had the game's outstanding performer, whose 38th minute reaction save from Danny Gabbidon was the pick of a very good bunch, and the clinical way in which they punished the profligate Hammers in the second half put a beaming smile on Allardyce's face.

The ending may have been nailbiting with Teddy Seringham, who had earlier hit the bar with a free kick, finally beating Jaaskelainen with an 89th minute penalty after Nicky Hunt had been drawn into a needless foul on Hayden Mullins, but the points were effectively secured five minutes from time.

Ivan Campo, who had himself been denied when Roy Carroll tipped his shot against the bar, hit the Hammers on the break, swapping passes with Okocha and finishing with the swagger of a seasoned striker.

Kevin Nolan had given Wanderers a 59th minute lead, making up for previous disappointments to score from close range after the impressive Yossi Benayoun had blocked Okocha's shot on the line.

The Israeli midfielder was West Ham's most dangerous player, giving Allardyce a taste of what he might have produced in Bolton colours had he not chosen to move, in his words, to a "big city" club rather than a "small town" outfit. But Wanderers still held all the aces.

Hammers boss, Alan Pardew, was right to suggest that, on another day, the result might have been different but, if he did not know before, he knows now the Premiership punishes teams who fail to take their chances.

Nolan experienced that first hand when, after having a perfectly legitimate match winner disallowed at Villa, he missed two chances against Everton that could have turned defeat into victory. But he was all smiles again after finally breaking his scoring duck.

"After the header in the first game, I was bitterly disappointed with myself and went home and played those two misses over in my head for a couple of days," he said.

"I've no excuses, they were just bad misses and that's why I went home and cried, but that's life. The win against Newcastle erased all that and it was nice on Saturday to finally get on the score sheet.

"It was a poacher's goal and I suppose I've got a tag as being a bit of a poacher, but it doesn't matter whether they go in from 30 yards or two yards. They all count."

Allardyce, who was again delighted with the performance of Henrik Pedersen as emergency left-back, saw the victory as a further sign of the progress Wanderers have made.

"It's unbelievable to think we haven't won at West Ham in the top division since 1964, but it shows how much we have developed and how much pride we can take from how well we've done," he said.

"The last time we went there (December 2002) we were fighting for points to stay off the bottom of the table at Christmas because, at that time, every team that had been bottom then had been relegated.

"We got a 1-1 draw, West Ham went bottom and were relegated while we weren't. This time we looked like a side that shouldn't be in that position at any stage and we must give the players credit for that.

"We have recovered from a sticky start, not performance-wise but points-wise and that's all we are in the game for.

"At half time I had to do a bit of talking about our defending in the first half, when we were relying on Jussi to keep us in it," Allardyce added.

"We had to put that right in the second half and, thankfully, we did. We decided to throw away the attacking football in favour of a more conservative strategy, which worked for us.

"Hunt was daft to give away the penalty because he didn't have to make the tackle, but it didn't cost us anything."