Record signing Graham Stuart snatched all three points with his first goal for Charlton to lift the Addicks out of the relegation zone.

The former Sheffield United forward repaid a huge chunk of his £1.1million transfer fee with the only goal of the game after 75 minutes to give Alan Curbishley's side renewed hope of beating the drop.

Stuart took advantage of some terrible Hammers defending to nip in and slot home after Richard Rufus' knockdown It ensured Charlton's first win in five games, a season's double over West Ham and took them out of the bottom three.

Harry Redknapp's Hammers had won their last three home games to put them in pole position in the race for a European place but they missed both the injured Rio Ferdinand and a killer touch in front of goal.

The one thing not lacking was commitment from both sides, Neil Ruddock and Carl Tiler conducting a private running feud throughout the game that the former Liverpool defender looked keen to continue after the whistle.

Despite a huge number of chances for both sides it looked as though Charlton's poor run would continue - they had taken only two points from the last four games - as opportunities went begging.

They should have in fact taken the lead within the first minute as West Ham were caught napping with only 45 seconds on the clock.

Danny Mills' through-ball was deftly turned into the path of Andy Hunt by Stuart but Hunt fired his shot straight at goalkeeper Shaka Hislop who saved well down to his left.

That served to wake the Hammers from their Bank Holiday daydreams and, in a frenetic opening period, they came close to scoring.

After five minutes Paul Kitson thought he would score when he get on the end of Scott Minto's pull-back from the byline but found his sidefooted effort from 12 yards blocked first by Chris Powell and then Mark Kinsella.

Marc-Vivien Foe then went even closer with a superb downward header from Marc Keller's free-kick that bounced over the bar with Sasa Ilic well beaten.

The frantic pace of the game often came at the cost of much quality and Mills was booked on 20 minutes by referee Steve Dunn for a reckless lunge at Keller.

Ruddock then drove a free-kick over and Lomas dragged a shot wide before Foe joined Mills in the book for a clash with Stuart.

Charlton were then forced to make a substitution on 38 minutes when the injured John Robinson was replaced by Mark Bowen.

Bowen, making his first appearance of the season after a succession of injuries, then almost had a telling impact, crossing for Stuart who looked certain to score from only six yards out but hit his shot straight at Hislop as the keeper scrambled back across his goal.

At the other end, Lampard should have done better than chip over the bar after being put through by Paolo Di Canio before the Hammers thought they had opened the scoring.

Lampard's drive was only palmed away by Ilic and Keller bundled in the rebound only to be denied by a linesman's flag raised for offside.

Ilic would have been grateful for the reprieve if not for the fact he had injured himself trying to prevent Keller getting to the loose ball.

The Melbourne-born Yugoslav, who was knocked unconscious at Chelsea earlier this season, crashed into the post and, after receiving lengthy treatment on the pitch, was eventually stretchered off to be replaced by Andy Petterson.

There was still time for West Ham to hit the post in a frantic end to the half, Pearce's header from Keller's cross clipping the upright before Mills cleared off the line.

The action continued unabated in the second half, Hislop pulling off a brilliant one-handed save to palm away Bowen's shot and four minutes later, Hislop repeated the trick at the other corner, turning away Hunt's shot as Charlton pushed for the winner.

At the other end, Lampard drove over, Keller's cross ran all the way along the six-yard box and Petterson had to be alert to dash quickly from his line to deny Di Canio.

Pringle then went close with a diving header from Mills' cross, Lomas doing just enough to prevent the former Benfica player from directing his effort on target.

When Kitson then blazed a left-foot volley over on 61 minutes it looked as though amazingly the game was going to end goalless.

But with time running out West Ham committed defensive suicide to gift the visitors the lead.

Rufus' knock down from Mills' free-kick should have been cleared but as the Hammers defence and Hislop waited for each to take responsibility, Stuart nipped in to steer the ball into the empty net.

That prompted Redknapp to bring on Eyal Berkovic for the out of sorts Kitson. Di Canio hit the side-netting from a narrow angle but Charlton stood firm, bringing on Keith Jones to strengthen the midfield, and they held on for a vital three points.

Teams:

West Ham: Hislop, Lomas, Pearce, Ruddock, Minto, Sinclair, Foe, Lampard, Keller, Kitson (Berkovic 79), Di Canio.

Subs Not Used: Forrest, Moncur, Potts, Lazaridis.

Booked: Foe, Ruddock.

Charlton: Ilic (Petterson 44), Mills, Rufus, Tiler, Powell, Robinson (Bowen 39), Stuart, Kinsella, Barnes, Pringle, Hunt (Jones 83).

Subs Not Used: Youds, Bright.

Booked: Mills, Hunt.

Goals: Stuart 75.

Att: 26,041

Ref: S Dunn (Bristol).