The 1-0 victory over an in-form Swansea City side will have given the Hammers sufficient hope that they can avoid being sucked down to the bottom of the table as the season progresses.
Both teams played some brilliant football but It did look as though the game was going to end up 0-0 before Carroll, making his first start for the Hammers since November, found some space to head a Mark Noble corner down into the ground and over the Swansea goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel.